.K 


LIBRARY 
SCHOOL 


'a' 


State  Library 


*' 


DEDICATION 


STATE  LIBRARY  BUILDING 


CONCORD,  NEW  HAMPSHIRE 


"TUKSDAY,  JANUARY  8,  1895 


Published  by  Authority  of  the  State 


CONCORD 

EDWARD   N.    PEARSON,    PUBLIC   PRINTER 
1895 


SCNOOi. 


.^73  3 


LAWS   OF    1895,  CHAPTER    125. 

JOINT  RESOLUTION  PROVIDING  FOR  THE  PRINTING  OF  THE  PRO- 
CEEDINGS AT  THE  DEDICATION  OF  THE  STATE  LIBRARY  BUILD- 
ING,   JANUARY    8,    1895. 

Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  in  General 
Court  convened: 

That  the  governor  and  council  be  requested  to  procure  the 
printing  of  two  thousand  copies  of  the  proceedings  at  the  dedi- 
cation of  the  State  library  building  at  Concord,  January  8,  1895, 
including  the  addresses  of  William  J.  Tucker  and  Ains worth  R. 
Spofford,  with  suitable  cuts  of  the  exterior  and  interior  of  the 
building. 


r     -  /f  \«  .  4  «>Q 


CONTENTS 


Introduction       .         .         . vii 

Description  of  the  Building i 

Trustees,  i  866-1 895 13 

Librarians,  i  834-1 895 15 

Addresses  : 

Hon.  J.  S.  H.  Frink,  President  of  the  Day    .         .  17 
Rev.  Harry  P.  Dewey,  Invocation         ...  22 
Hon.    Charles    H.    Burns,    of    the    Building    Com- 
mission      .........  24 

His  Excellency  Charles  A.  Busiel       ...  26 
Hon.    Isaac  W.    Smith,   Associate   Justice   of    the 

Supreme  Court 27 

Hon.  Parsons  B.  Cogswell,  Mayor  of  Concord  .  38 

Hon.  George  C.  Gilmore,   Trustee  of  the  Library  40 

Orations  : 

Rev.  William  J.  Tucker,  d.  d.,  President  of  Dart- 
mouth College     . 42 

Hon.  Ainsworth  R.  Spofford,  Librarian  of  Con- 
gress            59 

Appendix 77 


INTRODUCTION 


New  Hampshire,  in  assuming  to  do  for  the  people 
what  the  people  formerly  accomplished  for  themselves, 
has  made  progress  only  after  demonstration  that  pater- 
nalism in  government  does  not  trespass  upon  the  theory 
and  practice  of  a  pure  democracy.  The  progress  of 
thought  and  the  enlargement  of  practice  have  founded 
state  institutions  and  generally  have  granted  privileges 
and  facilities  which  individually  the  people  could  not 
secure  for  themselves.  The  internal  history  of  the  state 
library  reveals  an  origin  and  development  in  harmony 
with  a  liberal  interpretation  of  the  functions  of  a  wise 
and  comprehensive  state  administration. 

So  long  as  the  library  remained  under  the  immediate 
control  and  supervision  of  the  legislature  its  growth  was 
dwarfed  and  its  functions  were  limited  to  a  narrow 
sphere.  In  1866,  under  more  liberal  legislation,  the 
library  became  an  institution  with  a  permanent  board 
of  control,  and  during  the  succeeding  years  it  has 
profited  under  the  fostering  care  of  the  state.  Within 
thirty  years  the  number  of  volumes  has  been  increased 
tenfold,  and  the  interest  of  the  public  has  kept  an  even 
pace  with  the  rapid  progress  of  the  library. 

In  the  early  history  of  the  state,  there  was  no  state 
library  or  thought  of  one.  Until  1816  there  was  no 
state  house  nor  any  public  building  in  which  a  state 
library  could  be  sheltered.  During  the  first  twenty 
years  under  the  constitution,  the   legislature  held  only 


Viii  INTRODUCTION. 

two  successive  sessions  in  the  same  town,  and  these 
were  special  and  not  annual  sessions.  During  the 
years  preceding  the  establishment  of  a  permanent  seat 
of  government,  it  is  evident  the  state  was  not  saving  and 
moving  books  from  town  to  town.  The  treasurer  was 
summoned  to  attend  with  the  iron  chest  wherever  the 
general  court  pitched  its  tent,  but  no  library  was  trans- 
ported from  one  temporary  capital  to  another.  The 
state  had  none.  If  we  claim  for  the  institution  the 
added  glory  of  antiquity,  we  must  admit  that  in  its 
imaginative  existence  it  was  vehicular.  With  the  com- 
pletion and  occupancy  of  a  permanent  state  house,  it  is 
probable  that  a  few  books  were  collected,  but  it  was 
several  years  before  the  state  entertained  any  thought  of 
a  permanent  library,  or  even  reserved  a  copy  of  its  own 
publications  for  its  use.  The  Journals  of  the  Senate  and 
House  of  Representatives,  and  other  volumes,  published 
by  the  state,  previous  to  1826,  and  now  in  the  state 
library,  were  secured  by  donation  or  purchase  at  a  later 
date. 

For  the  first  time  the  state  library  receives  mention  in 
the  state  records  in  an  act  of  1823  appropriating  $100 
annually  for  its  enlargement.  The  poverty  of  the  insti- 
tution is  revealed  in  an  act  of  1826  which  provided  for 
the  purchase  of  **one  copy  of  the  Journal  of  the  Senate 
and  House  of  Representatives  for  each  session  since  the 
adoption  of  the  present  constitution." 

In  1828  Jacob  Bailey  Moore  was  appointed  an  agent 
to  prepare  a  room  under  the  senate  chamber  for  the 
accommodation  of  the  state  library.  Mr.  Moore  caused 
to  be  arranged  a  series  of  shelves  in  a  long,  narrow 
room  across  the  north  end  of  the  state  house,  and  here 
the  library  remained  until  the  autumn  of  1864.  An  act 
of  1848  provided  for  the  removal  of  the  library  to  the 
west  side  of  the  state  house,  but  no  action  was  taken  on 


INTRODUCTION.  IX 

account  of  a  failure  of  the  general  court  to  make  an  ade- 
quate appropriation  for  the  purpose. 

In  1828  the  whole  number  of  volumes  was  less  than 
600.  These  were  packed  rather  than  shelved  in  limited 
accommodations,  and  the  door  was  securely  locked  the 
greater  part  of  the  year.  During  the  succeeding  fifteen 
years  about  an  equal  number  of  volumes  of  a  miscellane- 
ous character  was  added  to  the  originals,  and  with  them 
committed  to  a  continued  and  solitary  confinement. 

The  only  printed  catalogue  of  the  state  library  was 
issued  nearly  fifty  years  ago.  An  act  approved  June 
30,  1846,  directed  the  secretary  of  state,  the  librarian,  ex- 
officio^  to  print  three  hundred  copies  of  a  catalogue  of 
the  librar}^.  The  catalogue  demonstrates  that  the  col- 
lection of  statutes  and  legislative  journals  of  the  United 
States  and  of  the  several  states,  had  been  considerably 
increased  within  the  few  years  immediately  preceding. 
At  this  date  the  library  also  contained  nearly  400  law 
reports,  digests,  and  works  of  an  elementary  character. 
In  the  miscellaneous  department  there  were  about  600 
volumes  of  history,  biography,  and  reference  books. 

At  the  June  session,  1849,  Alexandre  Vattemare,  of 
Paris,  delivered  an  address  before  the  legislature,  advo- 
cating an  international  exchange  of  public  documents. 
The  address  was  printed  at  the  expense  of  the  state,  and 
a  joint  resolution  was  passed  directing  the  librarian  to 
present  Mr.  Vattemare  **such  copies  of  the  Journals  of 
the  legislature  and  other  volumes  and  pamphlets  in  his 
possession  as  in  his  opinion  can  be  consistently  thus 
appropriated."  In  exchange  the  library  received  in 
uniform  and  substantial  bindings  125  volumes  in  French. 
They  are  silent  reminders  of  a  policy  suddenly  adopted, 
and  as  speedily  relinquished. 

In  1834,  Jacob  C.  Carter  was  chosen  librarian,  and  by 
annual  elections  was  continued  in  office  until  the  close  of 


INTRODUCTION. 


the  session  of  1846.  During  this  period,  and  for  many 
succeeding  years,  the  library  was  opened  only  during 
the  session  and  for  the  sole  accommodation  of  the  legis- 
lature and  the  state  officers.  An  act  of  1846  changed 
the  form,  but  not  the  spirit,  of  the  control  of  the  library. 
The  secretary  of  state  became  the  librarian  ex -officio 
with  authority  to  appoint  a  special  deputy  to  open  the 
library  during  the  session,  and  in  1857  the  deputy  secre- 
tary of  state  was  made  librarian  ex-officio,  and  continued 
to  discharge  the  limited  duties  of  the  office  until  1866. 

The  state  house  was  re-modelled  between  the  special 
session  in  August,  1864,  and  the  June  session,  1866.  In 
the  meantime  the  books  of  the  state  library  were  stored 
in  the  basement  of  the  city  hall.  They  were  removed 
from  the  state  house  in  the  autumn  of  1864,  eighty  years 
after  the  adoption  of  the  state  constitution.  At  this  time 
it  could  be  called  a  library  only  by  courtesy.  At  best 
it  was  a  broken  collection  of  law  books  and  state 
documents  with  a  very  few  volumes  of  a  miscellaneous 
character.  The  repairs  upon  the  state  house  provided  a 
room  for  the  library  upon  the  centre  of  the  west  side. 
It  was  left  unfinished,  and  the  books  remained  in  storage 
until  the  summer  of  1867.  During  eighty  years  the 
legislature  practically  retained  the  immediate  control  and 
supervision  of  the  library.  The  laws  were  temporary 
in  their  character  and  to  no  one  was  delegated  an 
authority  to  secure  any  permanent  results.  Each 
annual  session  legislated  for  its  immediate  convenience, 
often  doing  too  much  for  a  month  and  always  too  little 
for  a  year. 

At  the  June  session,  1866,  the  legislature  assembled 
in  the  re-modeled  state  house.  It  was  the  beginning  of 
an  era  in  the  history  of  the  library.  The  spirit  of  the 
prophet  was  breathing  in  the  dead  bones  in  the  valley, 
and  the  voice  of  progress  called  the  people  to  the  opened 


INTRODUCTION.  XI 

doors  of  the  library.  Under  the  provisions  of  the  act  of 
1866  the  state  library  was  enlarged  from  a  legislative 
convenience  to  a  public  institution.  The  control  was 
delegated  to  a  perpetual  board  of  trustees,  and  a  more 
liberal  provision  was  made  for  its  support.  Under  this 
management  the  room  provided  was  completed  and  a 
permanent  librarian  was  appointed.  The  results  were 
immediate  and  constant,  and  the  library  soon  outgrew 
the  accommodations  provided  by  the  trustees.  The 
situation  found  frequent  expression  in  the  legislature 
without  results  until  the  session  of  1889,  in  the  passage 
of  a  joint  resolution  authorizing  the  governor  and  coun- 
cil to  procure  plans  and  estimates  for  the  enlargement 
of  the  state  house  or  the  erection  of  a  separate  building 
for  the  accommodation  of  the  library.  Under  this 
authority  the  governor  and  council  appointed  Charles 
H.  Burns,  John  W.  Sanborn,  Benjamin  A.  Kimball, 
Irving  W.  Drew,  and  Charles  J.  Amidon.  The  com- 
mission held  frequent  sessions,  and  industriously  prose- 
cuted the  work  of  inquiry  and  investigation.  To  the 
succeeding  legislature  they  recommended  a  site,  and 
presented  plans  and  estimates  for  a  new  building.  The 
plan  contained  provision  for  a  court  room  and  adjoining 
rooms  for  the  accommodation  of  the  court  and  members 
of  the  bar.  The  recommendations  of  the  commission 
were  promptly  accepted  by  the  legislature,  and  without 
opposition  an  act  was  passed  authorizing  the  governor 
and  council  to  appoint  four  commissioners  to  erect  a 
l)uilding  in  accordance  with  the  accepted  plans  and 
upon  the  proposed  site.  The  commission  under  the  act 
of  1889  consisted  of  five  members,  and  with  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  desire  of  Mr.  Amidon  to  be  excused  from 
further  service,  the  building  commission  under  the  act 
of  1891  comprised  four  members.  The  governor  and 
council  appointed  Charles  H.  Burns,  John  W.  Sanborn, 


xii  INTRODUCTION. 

Benjamin  A.  Kimball,  and  Irving  W.  Drew  commis- 
sioners for  the  erection  of  the  new  building.  The  plans 
accepted  were  those  of  A.  P.  Cutting  of  Worcester, 
Mass.,  and  he  remained  associated  with  the  commis- 
sioners during  the  construction  of  the  building.  The 
liberality  of  the  people  as  expressed  in  legislation,  and 
the  wisdom  of  the  commissioners  are  fittingly  expressed 
in  the  fair  proportions  and  the  spacious  accommodation 
of  an  attractive  and  durable  structure. 

The  state  library  enters  upon  a  new  era  of  its  exist- 
ence with  hope  and  confidence.  During  the  past 
twenty-eight  years,  under  the  management  of  the 
trustees,  its  growth  has  been  uniform  and  constant. 
It  now  contains,  exclusive  of  duplicates,  50,000  volumes, 
of  which  14,000  are  in  the  law  department.  Including 
pamphlets,  state  and  United  States  documents,  it  pos- 
sesses over  100,000  duplicates.  Every  year  is  adding 
more  volumes  than  the  library  contained  fifty  years  ago. 


THE  STATE  LIBRARY  BUILDING. 


The  problem  as  received  from  the  commissioners  was 
for  a  building,  first,  to  contain  and  accommodate  the  state 
library,  with  ample  means  for  immediate  growth  within 
its  walls,  and  so  arranged  that  a  stack  room  for  future 
growth  could  be  added,  retaining  the  present  structure 
for  administrative  purposes,  with  reading  room  of  ample 
dimensions  for  its  prospective  growth  for  many  years  to 
come. 

Second,  to  provide  rooms  for  the  supreme  court  of  the 
state,  comprising  court  room,  judges'  consultation  and 
private  rooms,  clerks'  and  attorneys'  room,  with  such 
additional  rooms  as  would  naturally  grow  out  of  the 
development  of  the  scheme,  and  suitable  for  offices 
under  the  state  government,  and  the  whole  to  be  of  the 
most  substantial  character,  as  nearly  fireproof  as  con- 
sistent with  available  use. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  minutely  describe  all  the  intricate 
details  entering  into  the  construction  of  the  building,  but 
in  any  description,  however  brief,  it  should  not  be  over- 
looked that  the  foundations  are  laid  deep  and  strong ; 
that  the  materials  were  carefully  selected  and  of  the  best 
quality  available ;  that  each  and  every  one  of  the  intri- 
cate details  have  in  turn  received  all,  and  much  more  care 
and  thought  than  is  usually  expended  upon  such  prob- 
lems ;  that  the  building  not  only  looks  strong  and  per- 
manent, but  it  has  really  greater  strength  than  is  appar- 
ent, for  by  the  solid    character  of  the  backing  of  the 


2  STATE    LIBRARY    BUILDING. 

exterior  walls  and  by  the  tying  into  them  of  the  solid 
masonry  partitions,  which  buttress  them  in  every  direc- 
tion and  add  untold  strength  to  its  otherwise  massive 
solidity ;  that  in  heating,  lighting,  ventilation,  and  sani- 
tation it  is  the  best  that  expert  service  can  give  ;  in  deco- 
ration and  ornament  it  is  true  to  the  style  selected.  That 
it  is  not  highly  decorated,  is  true,  for  both  its  material 
and  purpose  forbid  such  a  course. 

It  is  situated  fronting  the  state-house  grounds  from  the 
north ,  with  a  frontage  on  Park  street  of  141  feet  6 
inches,  on  State  street,  104  feet  2  inches,  with  a  width 
of  94  feet  4  inches  at  the  narrowest  point  through  the 
library  east  of  the  main  entrance,  with  a  slight  project- 
ing tower  24  feet  square  at  the  southwest  corner,  one 
story  higher  than  the  main  building,  with  a  high,  pitched 
roof;  a  segmental  bay  from  the  centre  of  the  court  room 
at  the  west  end,  and  a  semi-circular  bay  at  the  right  of 
the  main  entrance  with  finish  membering  into  and  join- 
ing the  same.  The  extreme  height  of  main  walls  from 
grade  is  44  feet,  with  a  gable  over  main  entrance  57  feet 
in  height,  and  a  tower  83  feet  in  height. 

The  exterior  is  wholly  of  New  Hampshire  granite 
in  two  colors.  The  body  of  the  work  and  basement 
entire  are  of  Conway  red  granite,  rock  face,  except 
reveals  and  mouldings  which  are  fine  cut.  The  trim- 
mings comprising  all  belts,  mouldings,  pilasters,  cor- 
nices, copings,  entrance  steps,  etc.,  are  of  Concord 
gray  granite,  and  wholly  dressed  work.  The  backing 
of  all  exterior  walls  and  partitions  is  of  brick  laid  in 
cement. 

The  framing  of  floors,  ceilings,  roof  trusses,  stairs, 
columns,  entire,  are  of  steel.  The  floors,  columns,  ceil- 
ings, and  roof  are  filled  with  burnt  clay  tiles,  with  pro- 
jecting flanges  wholly  enclosing  metal  construction,  by 
a  solid   covering  of  previously  burnt   materials.      The 


THE    DEDICATION.  3 

floors  and  roof  arches  are  filled  and  leveled  with  con- 
crete to  receive  floors  and  roof  covering. 

The  floors  for  vestibule,  main  hall  first  and  second 
stories,  and  border  of  court  room  are  of  marble  mosaic, 
and  all  other  floors  marble  tiles. 

The  roof  has  a  waterproof  covering  over  masonry  con- 
struction overlaid  with  seven-eighths  inch  planed  slates 
bedded  in  mastic.  Flashing  and  skylight  ribs  are  of 
copper.  Skylights  are  glazed  with  one-half  inch  thick, 
hammered  plate  glass,  with  all  windows  glazed  with 
thick,  polished  plate  glass. 

The  plastering  is  laid  directly  to  masonry  construction. 
The  door  and  window  trimmings  for  the  vestibule,  main 
and  staircase  halls,  and  court  room  are  of  polished  mar- 
ble ;  all  other  trimmings  are  of  Keene  cement.  The  book 
cases  and  stacks  are  of  iron.  Wood  is  only  used  for  door 
and  window  casements  and  furniture  is  mainly  quartered 
oak,  and  is  of  so  inconsiderable  an  amount  that  the  whole 
could  be  burned  in  any  room  in  the  building  without 
endangering  its  construction. 

The  basement  has  a  strong  battered  wall  6  feet  9  inches 
in  height,  of  unusually  large  stone,  springing  from  a  solid 
underpinning  with  projecting  wash  and  terminating  with 
a  belt  3  feet  wide  of  three  members,  base,  die,  and  sill 
course,  running  entirely  around  the  building. 

From  this  belt  of  light  colored  granite  spring  pilasters 
2  feet  6  inches  wide  projecting  6  inches,  with  moulded 
base  and  delicately  carved  capitals,  coupled  at  the 
angles,  single  at  each  division  or  bay,  around  the  build- 
ing and  running  up  to  and  supporting  the  main  cornice. 
The  motive  of  the  main  cornice  is  Grecian,  4  feet  in  width, 
composed  of  frieze,  dentils,  egg  and  dart,  bed  moulding, 
facia  and  corona.  Over  the  main  cornice  is  a  sort  of  bat- 
tlement wall  3  feet  3  inches  in  height,  of  red  granite 
trimmed  with  gray,  forming  roof  stop. 


4  STATE    LIBRARY    BUILDING. 

The  segmental  bay  at  the  west  end  back  of  the  judges' 
bench  from  the  court  room,  is  pierced  with  triple  windows 
standing  high  up  on  massive  panels  of  red  granite, 
with  rugged  split  faces.  The  spandrils  over  the  same 
windows  have  similar  panels  surrounded  by  ornamental 
mouldings.  Through  the  curtain  walls  between  the  pilas- 
ters are  the  windows  for  the  first  and  second  stories,  with 
moulded  panels  between  them,  giving  the  effect  of  con- 
nected windows.  The  lower  ones  have  stone  mullions 
and  transoms,  and  the  second  semi-circular  tops. 

The  rear  entrance  to  the  library  from  the  north  and 
the  hatchway  to  the  basement,  while  absolutely  without 
ornament,  are  wonderfully  interesting,  showing  as  they 
do  the  massive  strength  of  the  work. 

The  main  entrance  is  from  Park  street  in  the  south 
front,  53  feet  from  the  southwest  corner  to  the  centre. 
The  entrance  is  composed  of  thirteen  granite  steps  20  feet 
wide,  solidly  buttressed  at  either  side  and  flanked  with 
massive  stone  piers  6  feet  3  inches  wide  up  to  the  height 
of  first  story,  from  which  spring  coupled  pilasters  running 
up  to  and  supporting  gable  cornice  above  the  battlement 
walls  of  the  main  building.  The  tympanum,  formed  by 
the  pitch  of  the  gable,  is  richly  carved,  the  central  motive 
of  which  is  the  modified  state  seal. 

Standing  between  the  main  piers  of  the  first  story  and 
the  pilasters  of  the  second,  are  four  pairs  of  coupled 
columns,  one  standing  back  of  the  other.  These  columns 
are  polished  and  of  green  granite  from  Conway  quarries. 
The  lower  ones  have  pedestals  membering  with  the  belt 
extending  around  the  building,  with  moulded  bases  and 
delicately  carved  capitals,  and  support  the  massive  stone 
lintel  2  feet  high,  3  feet  9  inches  wide,  and  18  feet  long, 
over  which  rests  the  die  bearing  the  inscription  in  polished 
letters  **  STATE  LIBRARY.**  The  die  and  its  capping 
form  guard  for  upper  balcony,  and  from  which  spring 


THE    DEDICATION.  5 

companion  columns  supporting  the  great  arch  over  the 
balcony.  The  portico  and  balcony  over  it  are  faced 
with  granite  with  floors  and  ceilings  of  solid  granite 
flags. 

The  motive  of  the  exterior,  as  it  finds  expression  in  its 
coursed  ashlar  walls,  mouldings,  panels,  cornices,  pilas- 
ters, etc.,  is  of  the  early  Italian  renaissance  period, 
which  originated  near  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  at 
a  time  when  the  great  masters  of  Italian  art  had  grown 
weary  of  the  Byzantine,  Gothic,  and  Romanesque,  and 
were  reaching  out  into  new  fields  and  gaining  fresh  con- 
quests in  their  chosen  profession,  receiving  their  inspira- 
tion from  Grecian  art  of  2,000  years  before  ;  their  works 
were  so  successful  that  they  have  ever  since  found  ex- 
pression in  the  best  works  of  every  European  country, 
and  are  steadily  gaining  in  favor  at  home.  While  in  the 
whole  there  is  scarcely  a  new  thing  in  the  builders'  art, 
the  adaptation  to  its  purpose  is  quite  unusual  in  archi- 
tecture, and  the  whole  gives  the  impression  of  great 
solidity  as  if  built  for  eternity. 

From  the  main  porch  through  double  doors  of  polished 
oak  surrounded  by  transoms  and  side  lights,  we  pass 
through  a  vestibule  5  feet  6  inches  by  22  feet,  and  enter 
the  main  hall  by  similar  doors.  This  hall  is  22  feet  by  74 
feet  6  inches,  running  through  and  receiving  its  light 
from  the  triple  windows  over  the  main  staircase  in  the 
rear  wall,  and  forms  a  dividing  line  between  the  two 
departments  of  the  building,  at  the  right  of  which  is  the 
library  and  at  the  left  the  court  departments. 

From  this  hall  by  two  pairs  of  double  doors  at  the 
right,  we  enter  the  great  reading  room  of  the  library. 
This  room  is  42  feet  wide,  70  feet  8  inches  long,  and  34 
feet  6  inches  high  ;  is  flanked  on  either  side  by  a  colon- 
nade of  six  Grecian  Doric  columns  surmounted  by  a 
classic  entablature,  which  supports  a  similar  colonnade 


6  STATE    LIBRARY   BUILDING. 

with  Grecian  columns  with  composite  capitals,  with  inter- 
secting arches,  beams  in  the  first  story  and  arches  in 
the  second  story,  intersecting  with  pilasters  on  the  outer 
walls  of  the  room,  extending  up  to  the  main  ceiling. 

The  columns  forming  the  second  story  colonnade  are 
connected  between  them,  as  well  as  at  the  ends,  with 
marble  rails,  supported  on  ornamental  wrought  iron  bal- 
ustrade. These  columns  are  9  feet  from  the  alcove  walls, 
and  are  designed  to  form  separating  corridors  between 
the  alcoves  and  the  central  section  of  the  main  reading 
room,  which  is  lighted  with  large  windows  at  the  east  end 
and  skylight  comprising  nearly  the  whole  central  section 
of  the  ceiling.  The  second  story  colonnade  with  the 
attendant  balustrade  forms  galleries  around  the  room  from 
which  the  second  story  alcoves  are  reached. 

In  entering  the  library  at  the  first  door,  at  the  right  is 
an  attendant  staircase  from  the  basement  to  the  second 
story.  Adjoining  this  is  a  trustees'  room,  the  extreme 
dimensions  of  which  are  16  feet  by  30  feet,  with  the  outer 
end  occupying  the  semi-circular  bay,  which  is  pierced  with 
a  group  of  five  transomed  windows.  Of  the  remaining 
four  alcoves  upon  the  right  hand  or  south  side,  three  are 
10  feet  2  inches  by  22  feet  and  the  fourth  is  13  feet  by  22 
feet.  The  three  central  alcoves  on  the  north  side  are  of 
the  same  dimensions  as  the  south  side,  while  opposite  the 
trustees'  room  is  a  vault  13  feet  6  inches  by  16  feet  8 
inches,  constructed  of  hard  brick  with  3-foot  walls 
laid  solid  in  cement.  At  the  northwest  corner  of  the 
library  department,  and  connected  with  a  driveway  from 
the  rear  entrance,  is  a  staircase  connecting  with  base- 
ment, and  with  first  and  second  stories. 

The  alcoves  in  the  library  department  are  each  14  feet  in 
the  clear  height,  giving  the  requisite  height  for  two  tiers 
of  bookcases,  when  the  same  shall  be  required,  and  are 
each  lighted  from  end  walls  by  large  windows  surrounded 


THE    DEDICATION.  7 

by  bookcases  and  provided  with  reading  tables  and 
chairs,  forming  a  series  of  reading  rooms  for  classified 
books. 

The  basement  immediately  under  the  library  depart- 
ment has  faced  and  jointed  lining  walls  and.  piers  of 
brick,  with  a  metalithic  concrete  floor  covering  the  whole 
space.  The  whole  is  amply  lighted  and  used  for  book 
storage  and  supplies.  Between  the  basement  staircase 
and  the  main  library  the  two  alcoves  on  the  right  are 
fitted  for  cataloguing  purposes. 

At  the  left  of  the  main  hall  by  the  first  door  we  reach 
the  judges'  consultation  room,  19  feet  by  22  feet  3  inches, 
through  which  we  reach  a  private  office,  15  feet  8  inches 
square,  in  the  space  occupied  by  the  tower.  From  either 
of  these  rooms  through  a  lobby  7  feet  by  9  feet  5  inches, 
entrance  to  the  court  room  is  formed.  Outside  of  this 
lobby  is  the  judges'  lavatory,  of  similar  size.  Through 
the  next  three  doors  from  the  hall,  a  wide  one  in  the 
centre,  flanked  on  either  side  by  single  doors,  we  enter 
the  court  room,  2^  feet  by  50  feet  by  26  feet  6  inches 
high,  with  a  segmental  bay  in  the  immediate  front.  The 
windows  of  the  bay  stand  high  up  over  the  judges' 
bench,  which  is  located  9  feet  from  the  outer  wall. 

Connecting  with  the  court  room  from  the  northwest 
corner  of  the  building  is  a  clerk's  room,  about  17 
feet  square,  with  vault.  Adjoining  this  room  and  con- 
necting with  main  hall  is  a  similar  room  for  consulta- 
tion. 

At  the  rear  end  of  the  main  hall  at  the  right,  is  the 
main  staircase,  9  feet  wide,  constructed  of  iron  and 
marble,  and  leading  to  the  second  story,  and  connecting 
directly  with  the  second  story  reception  hall,  22  feet  by  57 
feet  9  inches,  which  is  surrounded  by  a  finely  ornamented 
cornice,  with  semi-circular  glazed  ceiling  with  extreme 
height  of  26  feet.    From  this  hall,  through  a  glazed  par- 


S  STATE    LIBRARY   BUILDING. 

tition,  the  balcony  over  the  main  porch  is  reached.  The 
light  of  this  room  is  admirably  adapted  for  the  exhibi- 
tion of  paintings,  views,  and  other  objects  of  art. 
Through  this  room  are  reached  the  gallery  in  the  library 
and  the  second  story  rooms  occupying  the  space  used  by 
the  judges  in  the  lower  floor,  comprising  rooms  19  feet  by 
22  feet  3  inches,  15  feet  8  inches  square,  and  9  feet  5 
inches  by  15  feet,  and  from  the  landing  in  the  main  stair- 
case at  the  north  side  of  the  building  a  room  17  feet  by  36 
feet,  thus  completing  the  appointments  of  the  building. 

The  heating  and  ventilating  of  the  building  are  accom- 
plished by  a  power  system,  consisting  of  two  horizontal 
locomotive  boilers  with  heating  coils,  and  a  fan  driven 
by  electric  power.  These  are  located  under  the  main 
hall,  and  are  absolutely  disconnected  from  the  library 
department,  except  the  heating  conduits.  The  cold  air 
is  taken  from  high  up  in  the  north  wall,  and  conducted 
by  the  solid  masonry  conduits  to  the  heating  coils 
through  the  fan  to  the  distributing  conduits.  The  sys- 
tem includes  mixing  dampers  with  thermostats  and  elec- 
tric control,  and  as  computed  by  the  manufacturers  is 
rated  at  25,000  cubic  feet  of  fresh  air  per  minute.  By 
the  electric  control  a  change  of  two  degrees  in  temper- 
ature only  is  required  to  open  or  close  the  hot  and  cold 
air  supply. 

The  computation  of  ventilating  flues  provides  for  a 
capacity  sufficient  to  change  the  air  in  the  court  room 
every  ten  minutes,  and  in  the  library  every  fifteen 
minutes. 

The  vestibule,  main  and  staircase  halls  have  a  rich 
wainscot  5  feet  6  inches  high  of  Sienna  marble  with  base 
and  cap  mouldings,  door  and  window  trimmings  of 
Verona  red  marble,  extending  up  the  main  staircase  to 
the  second  story,  and  including  the  triple  windows  over 
the  staircase. 


THE    DEDICATION.  9 

Midway  between  the  doors  to  the  library  is  a  massive 
mantel  of  Grecian  design,  and  like  the  hall  surrounding 
it,  is  of  Sienna  marble,  with  Verona  red  trimmings,  the 
motive  of  which  is  solid  paneled  pilasters  relieved  with 
decorated  mouldings  up  to  and  supporting  the  shelf, 
above  which  spring  coupled  fluted  pilasters  with  rich 
capitals  carrying  the  main  entablature. 

The  space  over  the  shelf  between  pilasters  to  the  cor- 
nice, is  filled  with  a  bronze  panel  bearing  the  names  of 
those  officials  who  have  been  instrumental  in  the  build- 
ing's erection,  surrounded  by  symbolic  carvings  in  bas- 
relief. 

The  floors  of  main  hall  and  vestibule  are  mosaic,  of 
colored  marble,  with  rich  borders  and  centre  pieces. 

The  space  at  the  rear  end  of  the  main  hall  under  the 
staircase  is  occupied  for  a  general  lavatory. 

In  the  reading  room  of  the  library,  opposite  the  man- 
tel in  the  hall,  is  the  companion  fireplace  of  white  mar- 
ble, of  classic  design,  the  motive  of  which  is  two  pairs 
of  entasised  composite  columns,  with  delicately  carved 
capitals  8  feet  in  diameter,  and  7  feet  10  inches  high, 
supporting  classic  entablature  with  decorated  mouldings, 
with  mantel  shelf  terminating  between  them.  Over  the 
centre  and  supported  by  main  entablature  is  a  marble 
clock,  designed  in  harmony  with  the  mantel. 

The  main  reading  room  in  the  library  has  Italian  mar- 
ble wainscot  3  feet  6  inches  high,  intersecting  with  the 
pedestals  of  wall  pilasters,  and  matching  the  independent 
pedestals  of  the  main  colonnade.  All  the  finish  above 
the  wainscot  is  of  Keene  cement,  and  the  floors  of  the 
reading  room  and  alcoves  connected  with  the  same  are 
of  marble  tiles. 

The  court-room  floor  is  surrounded  by  a  colored  mar- 
ble mosaic  border,  moderatel}^  decorated,  with  the  cen- 
tral floor  covered  with  concrete  and  overlaid  with  rich 


lO  STATE    LIBRARY   BUILDING. 

carpet.  The  room  has  marble  wainscot  5  feet  i  1-2  inches 
in  height,  intersecting  with  the  two  marble  mantels  at 
either  end,  and  with  door  and  window  trimmings,  the 
whole  of  carefully  selected  Italian  vein  marble. 

The  mantels  have  coupled  Grecian  Doric  columns, 
decorated  with  egg  and  dart  mouldings,  at  either  side, 
supporting  shelves. 

Through  the  main  wall  back  of  the  columns  are 
grilled  registers  connected  with  main  flues  for  ventila- 
tion. 

The  fireplaces  are  also  designed  for  heating  the  build- 
ing in  moderate  weather,  and  supplement  the  main  flues 
for  ventilation. 

The  room  has  an  intermediate  cornice  13  feet  from 
the  floor,  forming  capping  over  doors  and  windows  and 
encircling  the  room,  from  which  spring  fluted  pilasters 
with  composite  Grecian  capitals,  supporting  the  main 
cornice,  which  is  also  decorated  with  Grecian  ornamental 
mouldings.  From  the  centre  of  the  court  room  ceiling 
springs  an  elliptical  dome  28  feet  in  diameter,  with 
ribbed  and  paneled  soffit  springing  up  to  and  receiving 
light  from  the  ceiling  through  an  ornamental  circular 
ceiling  light  13  feet  in  diameter.  The  judges'  bench, 
standing  on  marble  base  15  feet  in  height,  is  of  classic 
design  in  solid  mahogany. 

The  furniture  throughout  is  of  oak  in  general  har- 
mony with  the  work,  and  of  excellent  quality. 

The  main  rooms  in  the  building  are  provided  with 
fireplaces  with  marble  mantels  of  simple  design,  which 
will  be  found  of  advantage  in  heating  the  rooms  in  mod- 
erate weather,  and  in  aiding  materially  in  the  general 
ventilation  of  the  building. 

The  system  of  artificial  lighting  is  for  a  combination 
of  both  gas  and  electricity,  and  the  fixtures  were 
designed  for  the  building.     The  wiring  for  electric  lights 


THE    DEDICATION.  II 

is  a  full  line  of  metal-armored  conduits  starting  from  the 
basement,  and  from  which  every  wire  in  the  building 
can  be  introduced  or  removed.  The  fixtures  comprise  a 
row  of  lights  every  thirty  inches  around  the  cornice  of  the 
lower  colonnade  in  the  library,  with  brackets  from  the 
walls  in  the  first  and  second  stories.  Each  alcove  is 
lighted  with  independent  chandeliers.  The  second  story 
hall  is  lighted  in  a  manner  similar  to  the  library,  by  a 
row  of  lights  supported  by  and  suspended  from  the  main 
cornice  at  spring  of  circular  ceiling,  rendering  the  room 
suitable  for  the  display  of  works  of  art. 

The  court  room  has  a  series  of  electric  lights  around 
the  upper  and  lower  members  of  the  dome,  and  brack- 
ets at  the  right  and  left  of  the  judges'  bench. 

The  main  hall  has  brackets  on  the  court  room  side, 
with  candelabra  of  elaborate  design  at  either  side  of  the 
mantel. 

Springing  from  the  walls  at  either  side  of  the  portico 
and  back  of  the  piers  and  columns,  are  a  pair  of  solid 
bronze  brackets  carrying  electric  lights,  the  models  for 
which  originated  in  Southern  Italy,  and  their  prototypes 
used  for  another  purpose  will  be  found  in  the  Metropoli- 
tan Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  in  New  York  city.  They 
find  so  fitting  place  through  the  personal  efforts  of  a 
member  of  the  commission.  The  reflected  electric  light 
from  them  shows  with  eflect  the  tri-colored  granite,  of 
which  the  portico  is  composed. 

When  the  interior  of  the  building  shall  have  received 
the  simple  color  decoration  of  soft  gray,  illuminated  with 
slight  touches  of  higher  color  and  gold  to  properly 
emphasize  its  details ;  when  time  shall  have  softened  its 
exterior  tones,  and  overgrown  its  lawns  with  a  few 
choice  vines  and  shrubs,  giving  to  its  exterior  the  charm 
of  age ;  when  the  same  softening  influences  shall  have 
removed  from  the  interior  the  slight  resonance  always 


12  STATE    LIBRARY   BUILDING. 

incident  to  new  work ;  when  the  walls  and  every  availa- 
ble space  shall  be  filled  with  cases,  and  the  cases  filled 
to  overflowing  with  the  choicest  works  of  law,  literature, 
and  art ;  when  the  daily  throng  of  those  seeking  knowl- 
edge where  knowledge  can  be  best  obtained  shall  be 
welcomed;  then,  and  not  till  then,  will  the  full  measure 
of  its  usefulness,  and  the  wisdom  of  its  promoters  and  of 
the  commonwealth  that  so  generously  provided  for  it,  be 
fully  realized. 


TRUSTEES. 


Under  the  provisions  of  the  Act  of  1866,  the  trustees 
(except  two  of  the  first  appointments)  are  appointed  for 

the  term  of  three  years,  and  one  is  appointed  each  year. 
The  following  is  a  record  of  appointments : 

1866.  Asa  McFarland,  declined  to  serve. 

1866.  George  Stark,  for  three  years. 

t866.  Nicholas  V.  Whitehouse,  for  two  years. 

1866.  Parsons  B.  Cogswell,  for  one  year. 

1867.  Parsons  B.  Cogswell,  for  three  years. 

1868.  William  L.  Foster,  for  three  years. 

1869.  George  Stark,  for  three  years. 

1870.  Parsons  B.  Cogswell,  for  three  years. 

187 1.  William  L.  Foster,  for  three  years. 

1872.  George  Stark,  for  three  years. 

1873.  Parsons  B.  Cogswell,  for  three  years. 

1874.  William  M.  Chase,  for  three  years. 

1875.  George  Stark,  for  three  years. 

1876.  Parsons  B.  Cogswell,  for  three  years. 

1877.  Wilham  M.  Chase,  for  three  years. 

1878.  George  Stark,  resigned  1879. 

1879.  William  L.  Foster,  for  two  years. 

1880.  William  M.  Chase,  for  three  years. 

1881.  William  L.  Foster,  for  three  years. 

1882.  Austin  F.  Pike,  for  three  years. 

1883.  WiUiam  M.  Chase,  for  three  years. 

1884.  William  L.  Foster,  for  three  years. 

1885.  Amos  Hadley,  for  three  years. 


14 


TRUSTEES. 


1886.  William  M.  Chase,  resigned  1888. 

1887.  Charles  R.  Corning,  for  three  years. 

1888.  Albert  S.  Batchellor,  for  one  year. 

1888.  George  C.  Gilmore,  for  three  years. 

1889.  Albert  S.  Batchellor,  for  three  years. 

1890.  Charles  R.  Corning,  for  three  years. 

1891.  George  C.  Gilmore,  for  three  years. 

1892.  Albert  S.  Batchellor,  for  three  years. 

1893.  Frank  S.  Streeter,  for  three  years. 

1894.  George  C.  Gilmore,  for  three  years. 

1895.  Albert  S.  Bachellor,  for  three  years. 


LIBRARIANS. 


1834-1846.     Jacob  C.  Carter,  chosen  by  the  legislature. 
1846-1847.     George  G.   Fogg,  secretary  of    state,    ex- 

officio. 
1847-1850.     Thomas  P.  Treadwell,  secretary  of  state, 

ex-officio. 
1850-1855.     John    L.    Hadley,    secretary  of   state,  ex- 

officio. 
1 85 5-1 85 7.     Lemuel  N.  Pattee,  secretary  of  state,  ex- 

officio. 
1857-1858.     Nathan  W.  Gove,  deputy  secretary  of  state, 

ex-officio, 
1858-1861.     Allen    Tenney,  deputy  secretary  of  state, 

ex-officio. 
1861-1862.     George  H.   Chandler,  deputy  secretary  of 

state,  ex-officw, 
1862-1864.     Benjamin     Gerrish,    deputy    secretary    of 

state,  ex-officio. 
1864-1865.     James  H.  Burpee,  deputy  secretary  of  state, 

ex-officio . 
1865-1866.     Nathan  W.  Gove,  deputy  secretary  of  state, 

ex-officio. 
1866-1867.     Vacancy. 

1867-187 1.     William  H.  Kimball,  appointed  by  trustees. 
1871-1872.     Mitchell  Gilmore,  appointed  by  trustees. 
1872-1890.     William  H.  Kimball,  appointed  by  trustees. 
1890-1894.     Arthur  R.  Kimball,  appointed  by  trustees. 
1894 .     Arthur  H.  Chase,  appointed  by  trustees. 


THE  DEDICATION. 


The  State  Library  Building  was  formally  dedicated 
Tuesday,  January  8,  1895.  The  general  arrange- 
ments were  made  by  Governor  Smith  and  his  Coun- 
cil acting  in  concurrence  with  the  commissioners, 
and  will  be  fully  set  forth  in  the  following  narrative 
of  the  proceedings.  The  audience  was  large,  filling 
the  spacious  building  to  its  utmost  limit,  and  includ- 
ed many  distinguished  guests  from  New  Hampshire 
and  from  other  states. 

The  exercises  were  formally  opened  at  one  o'clock 
by  Harry  G.  Sargent,  Esq.,  of  Concord,  the  marshal 
of  the  day,  who  introduced  as  president  Hon.  J.  S. 
H.  Frink,  of  Greenland.  Mr.  Frink  spoke  as  fol- 
lows : 

PRESIDENT  S   ADDRESS. 

No  ''loyal  lover  of  letters"  can  approach  and  enter 
this  magnificent  edifice,  which  we  to-day  dedicate  to 
literature  and  law,  without  a  feeling  of  pride  and 
gratification. 

Without  any  analysis  of  the  architectural  design  of 
the  building,  we  feel,  at  once,  that  it  is  "  comely  "  to 
look  upon. 


1 8  STATE    LIBRARY    BUILDING. 

I  know  not  whether  the  capitals,  those  upper  mem- 
bers of  the  columns  and  pilasters  that  adorn  its 
outer  and  inner  walls,  are  Ionic  or  Doric  or  Roman- 
esque or  English,  but  I  do  know,  that  this  building 
answers  the  prime  purpose  of  true  architecture ;  a 
beautiful  and  harmonious  adaptation  to  the  purposes 
for  which  it  was  designed. 

There  is  a  realism  about  it  and  its  appointments, 
an  apparent  absence  of  surrender  of  utility  to  orna- 
mentation, such  a  blending  of  the  beautiful  and 
the  uselul,  as  to  make  it  very  satisfactory  to  one  who 
studies  its  details. 

Let  me  say,  however,  parenthetically,  that  obvi- 
ously, one  of  the  purposes  for  which  this  room  was 
designed,  was  not  to  accommodate  this  large  audi- 
ence. 

Gratifying  and  acceptable,  as  is  this  library  building, 
yet  it  is  not  so  much  this  result  of  the  state's  munifi- 
cence, and  the  commissioners'  taste, — this  beautiful 
achievement  of  stone  and  mortar, — that  awakens  our 
thankfulness,  as  the  implied  assurance  of  an  increas- 
ing and  abiding  interest  of  our  people  in  the  cause  of 
a  higher  education  and,  consequently,  a  better 
government. 

From  this  day  the  State's  Library  is  assured  of  an 
invigorated  and  healthier  life.  The  commonwealth, 
by  the  erection  and  dedication  of  this  building,  gives 
a  pledge  of  a  more  active  assumption  of  its  duties, 
towards  this,  one  of  its  most  worthy  beneficiaries. 
To  be  sure,  if  our  little  library  should  enjoy  the  most 
abundant  prosperity  that  its  warmest  patron  could 
reasonably  expect,  it  will  always  remain,  com'para- 


^<::,^'L^ijf 


THE    DEDICATION.  I9 

tively  an  inconsiderable  collection   of  books ;  yet  it 
will  serve  well  all  the  purposes  of  our  community. 

The. legislator  intent  upon  forecasting  the  future 
from  the  lessons  of  the  past ;  the  public  official 
seeking  some  guidance  in  his  duty,  and  the  jurist 
striving  to  solve  the  enigmas  of  the  law ;  and  who- 
ever may  be  interested  in  the  religious,  social, 
scientific,  or  political  problems  of  the  day,  will  find 
abundant  counselors  here,  whose  advice  is  wise, 
because  born  of  experience. 

"  That  place  that  does  contain 
My  books — my  best  companions — is  to  me 
A  glorious  court,  where  hourly  I  converse 
With  the  old  sages  and  philosophers, 
And  sometimes  for  variety,  I  confer 
With  kings  and  emperors,  and  weigh  their  counsels." 

If  this  event  should  awaken  an  interest  in  his- 
torical investigation,  the  origin  of  this  library  will 
furnish  a  subject  of  interest  to  our  local  historians. 
It  seems  to  be  involved  in  some  obscurity.  Ency- 
clopaedists and  bibliographers  credit  it  with  a  birth 
antedating  our  state  government.  Without  invest- 
igation, and  upon  general  principles,  I  assume  that 
this  belief  is  well  founded.  New  Hampshire  has 
never  been  credited,  historically,  with  more  than  she 
deserved.  In  fact,  we  all  know  that  a  disposition 
has  sometimes  been  manifested  by  some  of  her  sister 
states  to  appropriate  her  renown. 

With  an  editor  of  our  State  Papers,  who  has  sub- 
dued the  most  fanciful  imagination  and  grotesque 
humor  of  any  story  teller  in  the  state,  that  he  might 
become  the  most  zealous  and  accurate  of  historians ; 


20  STATE    LIBRARY    BUILDING. 

with  a  new  librarian,  who  has  abandoned  a  profes- 
sion, in  which  he  might  have  succeeded  to  the  honors 
of  his  father,  to  become  a  companion  of  books;  and 
with  an  assistant,  who  imbibed  from  his  revered 
parent, — the  former  custodian  of  this  Hbrary, — a  per- 
sonal acquaintance  with  every  book  and  manuscript 
contained  in  it;  certainly  we  ought  not  to  want  for 
some  one  who  has  the  ability  and  interest  to  pursue 
this  investigation. 

New  Hampshire,  although  far  removed  from  the 
great  intellectual  and  commercial  centres  of  our 
country,  has  been  a  "quasi"  pioneer  in  the  encour- 
agement of  public  libraries.  Our  legislative  enact- 
ment of  1849,  authorizing  towns  to  appropriate  money 
to  establish  and  maintain  libraries  within  their  limits^ 
was  the  first  public  statutory  law  in  the  states  to  this 
end.  Our  legislature  has  never  been  niggardly  in 
its  appropriations  for  public  institutions  of  learning 
within  the  borders  of  the  state.  Its  munificence  has 
reached  its  climax  in  the  erection  of  this  much 
needed  and  greatly  admired  structure,  which  will 
stand  for  years  as  a  monument  of  architectural  pro- 
priety and  state  pride. 

But  we  dedicate  this  building  to-day  to  jurispru- 
dence as  well  as  to  letters.  Many  of  you  have  visited 
personally  the  court  room.  If  you  have  not,  I  wish 
I  could  give  you  a  pen  picture  of  its  many  beauties 
and  conveniences,  but  I  am  inadequate  to  the  task. 

I  can  only  say  in  a  general  way,  that  in  its  sym- 
metrical proportions,  its  elegant  yet  chaste  adorn- 
ments, and  rich  but  substantial  furnishings,  it  has  no 
peer  in  New  England,  if  in  this  country. 


THE    DEDICATION.  21 

The  character  of  this  room  and  all  its  surround- 
ings is  so  honestly  adapted  to  the  purposes  for 
which  they  are  intended,  that  they  would  seem  to 
act  as  constant  monitors  to  its  professional  occupants, 
that  ''ways  that  are  dark  and  tricks  that  are  vain" 
are  inharmonious  with  the  clear  light  and  wholesome 
atmosphere  of  such  an  apartment. 

Of  the  site  of  this  building,  we  can  say  with  the 
psalmist,  it  is  "beautiful  for  situation."  It  occupies 
a  prominent  place  in  the  most  beautiful  square  in 
New  England,  save  Copley  square.  It  is  a  fit  com- 
panion for  its  handsome  neighbor,  the  post-office 
and  federal  court  house,  and  it  lies  almost  in  the 
embrace  of  its  foster  parent,  the  state  house. 

The  commission  to  which  was  entrusted  the  erec- 
tion and  furnishing  of  this  building  has  discharged 
its  duties.  How  well,  this  handsome  structure  and 
its  no  less  handsome  furniture  tell.  "Finis  coronat 
opus."  In  the  language  of  our  governor's  inaugu- 
ral, it  is  a  "substantial  and  commodious  structure;" 
as  "a  work  of  art,  instructive,"  and  in  "its  strength 
and  durability  a  living  prophecy  of  the  perpetuity  of 
the  institutions  it  shelters." 

Still  some  modern  "Momus"  may  carp  at  its  archi- 
tecture, or  its  arrangement,  or  cost. 

To  the  thoughtful  and  patriotic  citizen,  such  criti- 
cism will  seem  as  unreasonable  as  that  of  his  pro- 
genitor, who  found  fault  with  Jupiter  for  not  having 
placed  a  window  in  the  breast  of  man  so  that  his 
thoughts  could  be  read.  Were  "Momus's  lattice  "  in 
the  breasts  of  such  carpers,  their  secret  thoughts 
would  reveal  the  insincerity  of  their  strictures. 


22  STATE    LIBRARY    BUILDING. 

If  this  building  encounters  such  criticism,  it  will 
be  exceptional  and  transitory.  When  the  ^'chiefest 
temple  "  of  all  who  are  actors  in  the  scenes  of  to-day, 
shall  be  a  *'  tomb,"  and  other  eyes  shall  behold  its 
substantial  walls,  and  other  voices  awake  the  echoes 
of  its  lofty  corridors,  and  other  feet  tread  its  mosaic 
walk,  it  will  survive,  a  beautiful  inspiration  to  wise 
thoughts  and  worthy  deeds. 

But,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  a  wise  man  wrote, 

**Let  him  be  sure  to  leave  other  men  their  turns  to  speak." 

Better  things  await  you  than  I  can  offer,  and  with- 
out further  introduction  we  will  proceed  with  the 
dedicatory  exercises. 

INVOCATION    BY    REV.    HARRY    P.    DEWEY. 

Almighty  God,  we  look  to  Thee  for  Thy  blessing, 
as  we  enter  upon  the  exercises  of  this  hour,  and  we 
are  humbly  confident  that  Thou  art  pleased  to  hearken 
unto  our  prayer.  We  have  come  to  dedicate  this 
building.  Thy  hills  and  forests  have  furnished  it 
substance;  forces  controlled  by  Thee  hold  its  walls 
firm  and  strong ;  seeking  to  realize  in  its  symmetry 
and  grace  the  beautiful  which  Thou  Who  art  alto- 
gether lovely,  dost  delight  in,  its  designers  and  work- 
men have  fashioned  it ;  and  all  who  have  given  or 
labored  with  brain  or  hand  for  its  erection  are  Thy 
children  ;  but  more  than  all  must  it  be  to  Thee,  that 
it  is  set  apart  to  uses  that  are  righteous  and  holy. 
We  are  grateful  for  the  means  and  the  skill  and  the 
toil  which  have  made  this  imposing  structure  possible. 


THE    DEDICATION.  23 

May  Its  chaste  and  noble  presence  ever  purify  and 
elevate.  May  it  be  a  persuasive  sermon  in  stone  to 
all  who  look  upon  it,  reminding  the  citizen  of  the 
gracious  ends  it  is  appointed  to  serve,  the  ends  of 
truth  and  justice.  Our  Father,  may  we  who  are 
assembled  here  feel  that  we  are  upon  sacred  ground. 
May  every  utterance  of  the  lip  and  every  thought  of 
the  heart  be  touched  with  a  feeling  of  reverence  as 
we  reflect  upon  the  high  and  exalted  uses  to  which 
this  edifice  is  consecrated.  And  in  dedicating  it, 
may  we  give  ourselves  to  the  cause  of  truth  and 
justice,  yea,  to  Thee,  who  art  Perfect  Truth,  Perfect 
Justice.  So  shalt  Thou  be  pleased  to  establish  the 
works  of  our  hands,  and  the  house  that  is  builded 
shall  not  have  been  raised  up  in  vain.  To  Thee  be 
praise  and  honor  and  dominion,  now  and  evermore. 
Amen. 

The  President. — We  read  in  the  Scriptures, 
**  which  of  you  intending  to  build  a  tower,  sitteth  not 
down  first  and  counteth  the  cost,  lest  happly  after 
he  hath  laid  the  foundation  and  is  not  able  to  finish, 
all  that  behold  it  begin  to  mock,  saying,  this  man 
began  to  build  and  was  not  able  to  finish." 

The  commissioners  entrusted  with  the  erection 
and  furnishing  of  this  building,  heeding  the  Scripture 
lesson,  have  counted  the  cost  and  finished.  To-day 
they  render  it  up  to  the  state  complete  in  all  its 
appointments. 

We  come  here  to-day  not  to  ''  mock,"  but  to  thank 
them. 

Mr.  Burns    in   behalf  of  the  committee  will  now 


24  STATE    LIBRARY    BUILDING. 

deliver  the  keys  to  the  governor,  and  the  governor 
will  respond  without  further  announcement. 

Presentation  of  the  keys  by  Hon.  Charles  H. 
Burns : 

Your  Excellency  : — The  commissioners  to  whom 
was  committed  the  duty  of  purchasing  land  and 
erecting  thereon  a  suitable  building  for  the  accom- 
modation of  the  supreme  court  and  the  State  Library, 
have  completed  their  work.  It  is  now  ready  for 
inspection,  dedication,  and  occupancy.  It  is  hoped  by 
the  commissioners  that  it  will  be  acceptable  to  the 
people  of  the  state,  and  a  blessing  for  many  years. 

This  building  has  been  designed  and  built  for  prac- 
tical and  useful  purposes.  While  New  Hampshire 
was  the  first  state  in  the  Union  to  empower  towns 
"to  maintain  free  public  libraries  by  taxation"  by  a 
law  enacted  by  its  legislature  almost  half  a  century 
ago,  and  providing  that  such  libraries  should  be 
"open  to  the  free  use  of  every  inhabitant;"  and 
while,  under  the  impetus  of  this  beneficent  law, 
substantial  library  buildings  have  been  erected  and 
public  libraries  established  and  maintained  through- 
out the  state  to  the  manifest  advantage  of  our  peo- 
ple, the  state  found  itself  in  the  possession  of  books, 
maps,  charts,  periodicals,  and  valuable  documents 
of  all  sorts,  increasing  rapidly,  and  with  no  ade- 
quate rooms  or  safety  vaults  in  which  to  keep  them. 
It  has  been  obliged  to  store  large  quantities  in  pack- 
ages and  boxes.  In  times  past,  books,  papers,  and 
manuscripts  of  great  value  and  importance  con- 
cerning colonial  history,  and  which   can   now  prob- 


THE    DEDICATION.  25 

ably  never  be  supplied,  have  been  lost  or  destroyed 
for  want  of  a  place  where  they  could  be  safely  stored. 
This  large  and  commodious  room,  with  fireproof 
vaults,  will  furnish  ample  accommodations  for  our 
valuable  library,  of  which  we  shall  not  be  ashamed. 

This  building  is  to  be  the  home  of  the  supreme 
court.  Here  important  questions  concerning  the 
rights  of  all  the  people  are  to  be  settled.  It  has  not 
been  creditable  to  the  state  that  the  court  has  never 
until  now  had  a  suitable  place  for  its  deliberations, 
and  in  which  to  hold  its  law  sessions.  Our  citizens 
must  be  justly  proud  that  the  tribunal  which  is  both 
their  guide  and  guardian  is  now  provided  with  com- 
forts and  conveniences  to  some  extent  commensu- 
rate with  its  manifest  necessities,  and  with  its  high 
character  and  usefulness. 

This  substantial  building,  erected  by  the  state, 
aided  materially  by  the  city  of  Concord  in  the  gift 
of  a  valuable  tract  of  land,  supplies  these  wants  in 
a  manner  befitting  the  dignity  and  honor  of  the 
commonwealth.  The  prosperity  of  a  state  does  not 
depend  upon  the  beauty  or  convenience  of  its  public 
buildings,  but,  rather,  upon  its  men  and  women  of 
culture,  character,  and  conscience  ;  but  such  build- 
ings do  contribute  in  large  measure  to  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  tastes  of  its  people,  inspiring  them  with 
grander  ideals  of  strength  and  beauty.  This  noble 
edifice  of  ours  is  to  be  filled  with  books  containing 
the  best  thoughts  of  the  great  thinkers  of  all  ages, 
and  with  **  whatsoever  things  are  lovely,  whatsoever 
things  are  pure,"  in  art ;  it  is  to  be  the  home  of  the 
highest  court  of  the  commonwealth,  where  justice — 


26  STATE    LIBRARY    BUILDING. 

whose  seat,  like  law,  is  **the  bosom  of  God" — shall 
be  dispensed ;  and  It  will  become  an  Indispensable 
source  of  protection,  enlightenment,  and  education 
to  our  citizens,  raising  higher  and  still  higher  the 
standards  of  civilization  ; — for  law  and  learning  go 
hand  In  hand,  and  are  the  most  effective  of  human 
instrumentalities  in  the  structure  and  superintend- 
ence of  society. 

It  is,  therefore,  with  pride  and  satisfaction  that,  in 
behalf  of  my  associates  and  myself,  I  deliver  to  you, 
as  the  custodian  of  the  property  of  the  state,  the  key 
to  this  beautiful  building. 

Response  by  His  Excellency  Charles  A.  Buslel : 

In  behalf  of  the  State  of  New  Hampshire,  I  accept 
from  your  hand  the  key  to  the  new  state  library.  In 
the  discharge  of  an  agreeable  duty  I  am  permitted 
to  express  my  appreciation  of  the  ability  and  the  suc- 
cess of  the  commissioners  who  have  formulated  the 
plans  and  have  directed  the  construction  of  this  ele- 
gant and  commodious  building. 

Your  labors,  in  this  direction,  are  happily  ended. 
The  completed  building  In  all  Its  appointments 
reflects  your  wisdom  and  your  ready  appreciation  of 
the  needs  of  the  present  and  the  demands  of  the 
future. 

I  congratulate  the  trustees  and  the  patrons  of  the 
library,  and  the  judges  and  officers  of  the  supreme 
court,  on  the  completion  of  this  commodious  structure. 

By  a  thoughtful  impulse  the  people  have  liberally 
provided  for  the  future  accommodation  of  the  library 
and  of  the  court. 


THE    DEDICATION.  2*J 

As  we  proceed  with  the  services  of  dedication,  the 
inspiration  of  the  day  should  be  an  invitation  to 
renewed  labor  and  enlarged  usefulness  on  the  part 
of  all  who  are  the  chosen  tenants  and  custodians  of 
this  spacious  and  attractive  temple. 

The  President: — A  portion  of  this  building  has 
been  set  aside  for  the  use  of  the  supreme  court. 
The  appointments  of  the  court  room  are  so  elegant, 
that  it  is  not  impossible,  that  you,  gentlemen  of  the 
legislature,  may  be  called  upon  to  make  an  appropri- 
ation to  purchase  silken  gowns  for  the  members  of 
the  court,  that  their  personal  adornments  may  com- 
port with  those  of  the  room.  It  was  hoped  that  the 
Chief  Justice  might  so  favor  this  judicial  embellish- 
ment, that  he  would  be  present  to-day ;  but  with 
characteristic  modesty,  he  has  deputed  Judge  Smith 
to  represent  the  court. 

Judge  Smith,  to  the  regret  of  all,  is  soon  to  retire 
from  the  place  he  has  so  long  adorned.  I  know  you 
will  all  listen  with  interest  to  what  may  be  his  last 
public  judicial  utterance. 

Judge  Isaac  W.  Smith  responded  as  follows : 

Our  congratulations  are  due  to  the  distinguished 
gentlemen  of  the  building  committee  for  the  success 
which  has  crowned  their  labors.  This  spacious 
building,  beautiful  in  design,  in  construction,  and  in 
finish,  is  a  lasting  monument  of  their  united  wisdom. 
We  cheerfully  acknowledge  the  estimable  value  of 
their  services  to  the  State  in  the  discharge  of  the 
varied    and,    perhaps    at    times,    perplexing    duties 


28  STATE    LIBRARY   BUILDING. 

imposed  upon  them  by  the  legislature.  Their  suc- 
cess lies  not  in  the  fact  alone  that  here  is  a  building 
beautiful  in  its  architectural  effect,  which  the  eye 
views  with  delight  and  the  mind  dwells  upon  with 
pleasure, — but  also  a  building  solid  as  the  native 
granite  of  which  its  walls  are  built,  massive  in  its 
structure,  and  planned  in  its  minutest  details  for  the 
imperative  wants  and  necessities  of  the  State.  Their 
reward  consists  in  the  conscious  knowledge  that  the 
service  so  cheerfully  rendered  is  fully  appreciated  by 
a  grateful  people. 

The  state  is  also  to  be  congratulated,  that  at 
length,  after  much  patient  waiting,  and  after  no  little 
inconvenience  from  unsuitable,  and  overcrowded 
apartments,  it  has  come  into  possession  of  a  building 
so  admirably  adapted  to  the  purposes  of  its  construc- 
tion. The  people,  through  the  legislature,  have 
brought  hither  their  offerings  for  its  erection,  that 
they  may  enjoy  accommodations  so  imperatively  re- 
quired by  their  growing  wants  and  increased  pros- 
perity. Without  lavish  expenditures  of  money,  they 
have  provided  a  building  worthy  the  dignity  of  the 
state,  and  the  intelligence  of  its  people,  and  in  keep- 
ing with  their  simple  tastes  and  frugal  habits ;  where 
there  is  **  comfort  without  luxury,  and  elegance  with- 
out display." 

Wilberforce  said,  in  the  British  House  of  Com- 
mons, ''Wherever  the  English  language  is  spoken, 
men  shall  be  free."  He  meant  the  freedom  that 
comes  from  minds  enlightened  by  knowledge,  and 
from  hearts  inspired  by  the  love  of  justice.  The 
framers  of  our  constitution,  recognizing  this  truth, 


THE    DEDICATION.  29 

inserted  in  the  fundamental  law  of  the  state  this,  as 
article  82:  *' Knowledge  and  learning  generally  dif- 
fused through  a  community  being  essential  to  the 
preservation  of  a  free  government,  and  spreading  the 
opportunities  and  advantages  of  education  through 
the  various  parts  of  the  country  being  highly  condu- 
cive to  promote  this  end,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
legislators  and  magistrates  ...  to  cherish  the 
interest  of  literature  and  the  sciences,  and  all  semi- 
naries and  public  schools,"  etc.  The  sources  of 
knowledge  are  many  and  illimitable:  the  family,  the 
common  school  from  lowest  to  higher  grades,  the 
academy,  college,  seminary,  pulpit,  press,  stump, 
and,  what  interests  us  at  this  present  moment,  the 
library,  the  power  of  which  no  man  can  weigh  or 
describe.  It  is  sometimes  called  the  **  People's  Uni- 
versity." Within  these  alcoves  will  be  deposited  for 
use  of  the  historian,  the  scholar,  the  bibliographer, — 
of  every  one  in  search  of  facts,  or  thirsting  for 
knowledge,  forty  thousand  books  and  pamphlets, — 
the  slow  accretion  of  a  century,  upon  law,  theology, 
medicine,  science,  and  the  arts.  The  suggestion  of 
His  Excellency,  the  Governor,  in  his  message  to  the 
legislature  of  last  week,  whether  some  system  of 
administration  may  not  be  found  which  shall  render 
its  usefulness  more  general,  is  deserving  of  the 
fullest  consideration,  the  discussion  of  which  I  leave 
to  those  better  qualified  by  study  and  experience. 

I  am  invited  to  speak  in  behalf  of  my  brethren 
in  acceptance  of  the  apartments  provided  in  this 
structure,  and  this  day  dedicated  to  the  use  and  ac- 
commodation  of  the  supreme    court   of   the  state. 


30  STATE    LIBRARY   BUILDING. 

We  turn  instinctively  to  the  names  of  our  judges 
whose  Hves  have  passed  into  history.  The  occasion 
does  not  require  nor  permit  a  biographical  sketch  of 
their  lives,  nor  even  a  review  of  their  judicial  work, 
were  I  able  to  perform  that  interesting  duty.  A 
brief  insight  into  the  times  in  which  they  lived,  and 
the  environment  by  which  they  were  surrounded,  is 
all  that  is  permissible  on  this  occasion. 

In  colonial  times  the  practice  prevailed  of  making 
judges  of  men  who  were  not  lawyers.  It  is  said  that 
this  practice  was  general  in  New  England.  Paul 
Dudley,  appointed  in  1718,  is  said  to  have  been  the 
first  person  regularly  bred  to  the  law,  who  sat  on 
the  bench  in  Massachusetts.  Of  Richard  Martyn, 
chief-justice  of  New  Hampshire  in  1693,  1694,  the 
late  Governor  Bell,  in  his  valuable  ''History  of  the 
Bench  and  Bar  of  New  Hampshire,"  says,  ''  He  ap- 
pears to  have  possessed  intelligence  and  good  busi- 
ness qualifications,  and  to  have  performed  his  public 
trusts  acceptibly ; "  of  William  Vaughn,  chief-justice 
in  1708-1716,  '' He  was  an  honest  and  courageous 
supporter  of  the  people's  rights  and  interests,  and 
was  the  object  of  their  warm  affection  and  admira- 
tion;" of  Samuel  Penhallow,  justice  in  17 14-17 17, 
and  chief-justice  in  1717-1726,  ''His  mental  pow- 
ers, his  education,  and  his  familiarity  with  public 
business  rendered  him  a  valuable  and  excellent 
judge;"  of  George  Jaffrey,  justice  in  1717-1726, 
and  chief-justice  in  1 726-1 732,  a  graduate  of  Har- 
vard college  in  1702,  "He  was  the  first  man  of 
liberal  education  who  appeared  on  the  bench  in  New 
Hampshire His  long  service  in  public 


THE    DEDICATION.  3I 

offices  Indicates  the  confidence  he  inspired  in  his 
ability  and  integrity;*'  of  Nicholas  Gilman,  justice 
from  1 732-1740,  "He  performed  the  duties  satis- 
factorily;" of  Benjamin  Gambling,  justice  in  1733- 
1737,  that  he  was  characterized  by  Governor  Belcher 
as  *' knowing  and  honest;"  of  Samuel  Gilman,  jus- 
tice in  1 740- 1 747,  *' He  was  a  man  of  the  highest 
character,  and  universally  respected ; "  of  Meshech 
Weare,  justice  in  1747- 17 75,  chief-justice  in  1776- 
1782,  "During  the  Revolution  he  administered 
simultaneously  the  highest  offices  in  the  state,  legis- 
lative, judicial,  and  executive, — a  conjunction  of 
powers  which,  under  the  circumstances,  and  in  a 
man  of  less   principle   and  patriotism,  would   have 

been    hazardous    in    the    extreme He 

sat  thirty-five  years  upon  the  bench  of  the  superior 
court,  where  his  father  and  grandfather  had  sat 
before  him, — a  remarkable  succession  never  paral- 
leled ;  "  of  William  Parker,  justice  in  1771-1775, 
**  By  common  consent  allowed  to  be  at  the  head  of 
his  profession  in  New  Hampshire ; "  of  John  Went- 
worth,  justice  in  1776-1781,  ''a  man  of  intelligent 
views,  and  a  sincere  patriot ;  *'  of  Josiah  Bartlett, 
justice  in  1 782-1 790,  and  chief-justice  in  1790,  phy- 
sician, delegate  to  the  Continental  congress,  signer 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  president 
and  governor  of  New  Hampshire  three  years,  *'  His 
fellow  citizens  reposed  in  his  honesty  and  ability, 
and  he  executed  the  duties  of  his  important  stations 
with  general  approbation." 

The  Revolution,  it  will  be  seen,  brought  with  it 
new   men.     Of   Samuel    Livermore,  chief-justice  in 


32  STATE    LIBRARY    BUILDING. 

1 782-1 790,  William  Plumer,  Jr.,  in  his  scholarly  trib- 
ute in  memory  of  his  father,  published  in  1856, 
says  :  ''  Though  bred  to  the  law,  he  was  not  inclined 
to  attach  much  importance  to  precedents,  or  to  any 
merely  systematic  or  technical  rules  of  procedure. 
In  a  manuscript  report  which  I  have  of  one  of  his 
charges,"  writes  Mr.  Plumer,  *'I  find  him  cautioning 
the  jury  against  paying  too  much  attention  to  the 
niceties  of  the  law,  to  the  prejudice  of  justice — a 
caution  of  which  juries  do  not  ordinarily  stand  much 
in  need." 

John  Dudley,  justice  in  1 785-1 797,  was  a  trader 
and  farmer.  Woodbury  Langdon,  justice  in  1782- 
179 1,  was  a  merchant  of  Portsmouth.  Timothy 
Farrar  of  New  Ipswich,  justice  in  1 791-1803,  was 
originally  designed  for  the  pulpit.  Of  them  Plumer 
says:  ''These  judges  were  men  of  strong  powers 
of  mind,  of  large  acquaintance  with  business,  and 
superior  in  talents  and  information  generally  to 
second  rate  lawyers."  Jeremiah  Smith,  in  1796, 
wrote, — "There  are  now  two  lawyers  on  the  bench, 
but  I  think  they  are  by  no  means  the  two  best  of  the 
four.  Farrar  and  Dudley,  in  my  judgment,  greatly 
overmatch  them."  Theophilus  Parsons  of  Massachu- 
setts, who  practised  many  years  in  our  courts,  and 
later  was  chief-justice  of  that  state,  said  of  Dudley, — 
**  You  may  laugh  at  his  law,  and  ridicule  his  lan- 
guage, but  Dudley  is,  after  all,  the  best  judge  I  ever 
knew  in  New  Hampshire."  Arthur  Livermore  said 
that  "justice  was  never  better  administered  in  New 
Hampshire  than  when  the  judges  knew  very  little  of 
what  we  lawyers  call  law."     Plumer  writes  that  Web- 


THE    DEDICATION.  33 

ster  told  him  he  had  heard  the  story  that  a  question 
on  demurrer  filed  by  Mason  was  put  by  Dudley  to 
the  jury.  Happy  the  judge  who  could  thus  rid  him- 
self of  the  decision  of  a  troublesome  question  of 
law,  and  retain  the  respect  of  such  men  as  Parsons 
and  Jeremiah  Smith. 

The  consensus  of  opinion  is  that  substantial  justice 
was  done  in  the  determination  of  questions  involving 
the  property,  rights,  and  liberties  of  the  people ;  and 
our  admiration  is  increased  when  we  consider  that 
the  bench  and  bar  of  the  seventeenth  and  eigh- 
teenth centuries  had  almost  no  books  on  legal 
subjects.  When  William  Plumer  in  1785  entered 
the  office  of  John  Prentice  in  Londonderry  (after- 
wards attorney-general)  his  law  library  consisted  of 
Blackstone's  Commentaries,  Wood's  Institutes  of  the 
Laws  of  England,  Hawkins'  Pleas  of  the  Crown, 
Jacobs'  Law  Dictionary,  Salkeld,  Raymond  and 
Strange's  Reports,  the  New  Hampshire  Statutes, 
and  a  manuscript  volume  of  pleas  and  declarations. 
The  year  previous  in  the  office  of  Joshua  Atherton 
in  Amherst  he  was  given  Coke  upon  Littleton  as 
his  first  initiation  into  the  mysteries  of  the  law. 
Plumer  (Jr.)  is  authority  for  the  statement  that 
when  Patrick  Henry  applied  for  admission  to  the 
Virginia  bar,  he  was  asked  by  Jefferson  what  books 
he  had  read,  and  replied  with  entire  confidence  in 
the  extent  of  his  legal  acquirements.  Coke  upon 
Littleton  and  the  Virginia  Statutes. 

Lord  Campbell  says  that  'Tn  the  simple  and  happy 
times  of  Edward  I,  Glanville,  Bracton,  and  FJeta  com- 
posed a  complete  law  library."  Plumer,  writing  between 


34  STATE    LIBRARY    BUILDING. 

1 850  and  1854,  estimates  the  number  of  reports  of  law 
courts  then  in  existence  as  between  500  and  1,000. 
To-day  they  are  estimated  at  4,000.  In  this  paucity 
of  books,  judges  as  well  as  lawyers  looked  for  the 
law  as  deduced  from  acknowledged  legal  principles. 
From  necessity,  they  dealt  less  with  authorities  and 
more  with  the  reason  of  the  law,  and  attempted  to 
find  the  rule  in  the  immutable  principles  of  justice. 

The  nineteenth  century  brought  with  it  as  judges 
men  of  judicial  science.  Of  Jeremiah  Smith,  chief- 
justice  in  1 802- 1 809,  and  in  18 13-18 16,  Bell  says  he 
**  did  more  perhaps  for  the  improvement  of  the  state 
than  any  other  man.  Like  the  monarch  who  changed 
a  city  from  brick  to  marble,  he  found  law  without 
form  and  void,  and  during  his  connection  with  the 
courts  he  reduced  it  to  order  and  harmony.  His 
genius  was  constructive  ;  he  had  the  systematizing 
faculty.  He  did  not  conceive  of  the  law  as  a  mass 
of  detached,  independent  rules ;  in  his  mind  it  was 
a  series  of  requirements,  each  connected  with  and 
deducible  from  great  central  principles.  Before  his 
day  the  judges  were  mostly  unversed  in  the  technique 
of  the  law,  and  aimed  at  what  they  deemed  to  be 
equitable  conclusions.  The  result  was  that  no  man 
could  foresee  with  any  confidence  the  issue  of  any 
cause.  Judge  Smith  drew  straight  the  lines  which 
had  been  confused  or  obliterated,  and  gave  the  bar 
and  the  public  firm  ground  on  which  to  stand.  The 
counsel  who  knew  the  law  began  to  take  his  place 
above  the  mere  tonguy  man  who  saw  nothing 
beyond  the  case  in  hand.  The  influence  of  this 
upon  the  bar  and  upon  the  administration  of  reme- 


THE    DEDICATION.  35 

dial  justice  could  not  fail  to  be  of  the  most  benefi- 
cial character.  Fortunately  we  have  now  the  evi- 
dence of  Judge  Smith's  reformatory  work  in  a  dura- 
ble form.  A  volume  of  his  decisions  from  his  own 
manuscript  has  been  recently  published,  which  bears 
unmistakable  testimony  to  his  vigorous  and  scientific 
administration  of  the  law.  ...  It  was  unfortu- 
nate that  it  was  withheld  so  long,  for  if  the  opinions 
contained  in  it  had  been  at  once  promulgated,  great 
expense  would  have  been  saved  to  parties  who  sub- 
sequently litigated  the  very  questions  which  Judge 
Smith  had  before  settled  so  conclusively." 

The  state  was  equally  fortunate  in  the  selection  of 
his  successor,  William  M.  Richardson,  chief-justice 
from  1816  to  his  decease  in  1838.  With  his  induc- 
tion into  office  was  commenced  the  publication  of 
reports  of  cases  adjudicated  in  the  superior  court. 
His  opinion  in  the  famous  Dartmouth  College  case, 
although  overruled  by  the  supreme  court  of  the 
United  States,  has  always  been  regarded  as  one  of 
the  ablest  on  that  side  of  the  question  litigated. 
Bell  says  of  him,  **The  judicial  ermine  received  no 
stain  from  his  wearing  it.  He  knew  no  friends  and 
no  enemies  while  in  the  seat  of  judgment,  nor  any 
of  the  ordinary  lines  of  decisions  among  men.  His 
ideal  was  the  very  highest."  Judge  Perley  in  "  East- 
man V.  Meredith,  36  N.  H.,  284,  299,"  speaks  of  him 
as  "our  own  learned  and  excellent  Chief-Justice 
Richardson "  in  connection  with  Parsons  and  Shaw 
of  Massachusetts  and  Mellen  and  Shepley  of  Maine, 
''  names  which  carry  with  them  an  irresistible  weight 
of  authority  on  all  legal  questions." 


36  STATE    LIBRARY    BUILDING. 

The  memory  of  Joel  Parker,  justice  in  1833-1838, 
and  chief-justice  in  1 838-1 848,  is  yet  green  with  the 
present  generation  of  lawyers.  In  ability  and  learn- 
ing he  was  fully  the  equal  of  his  two  distinguished 
predecessors.  His  published  opinions  in  thirteen 
volumes  of  the  New  Hampshire  Reports  show  his 
familiarity  both  with  the  authorities  and  with  funda- 
mental legal  principles,  and  established  our  reports 
as  high  legal  authority  with  his  cotemporaries. 
Smith,  Richardson,  and  Parker  formed  a  trio  *'  of  the 
most  able  and  learned  of  a  sequence  of  jurists  rarely 
equalled  in  the  annals  of  any  state." 

Time  forbids  more  than  allusion  to  their  succes- 
sors :  Gilchrist,  scholarly,  industrious,  popular ; 
Woods,  even-tempered,  patient,  and  upright ;  Perley, 
strong,  positive,  self-reliant,  primus  inter  pares, 
whose  opinions  in  style  and  substance  are  unsur- 
passed in  our  reports  ;  Bell,  clear-headed,  strong- 
minded,  justum  et  tenacem  propositi  virum  ;  Bel- 
lows, the  high-minded,  gracious  gentleman  and 
learned  and  conscientious  judge;  Sargent,  careful, 
painstaking,  and  sensible  ;  and  Gushing,  the  polished 
gentleman  and  scholar,  and  patient  and  learned 
jurist ;  these  were  the  magistrates  to  whom  with 
their  learned  associates  New  Hampshire  entrusted 
the  enforcement  of  her  laws,  and  whose  memories 
we  gratefully  cherish. 

Five  times  within  the  century,  In  the  mad  passion 
engendered  of  political  strife,  has  the  court  been 
overturned.  That  this  action  of  the  legislative  de- 
partment was  acquiesced  in  does  not  render  it  any 
the  less  deplorable  or  questionable.     It  may  be  per- 


THE    DEDICATION.  37 

mitted,  perhaps,  to  one  who  looks  forward  with  a 
sense  of  relief  from  official  responsibility  to  the  early 
day  when  he  shall  again  put  on  the  gown  of  the  bar, 
to  express  the  hope  that  henceforth  better  counsels 
will  prevail,  and  the  line  of  separation  between  the 
legislative  and  judicial  departments  of  the  govern- 
ment marked  out  in  the  fundamental  law  of  the  state 
be  kept  intact. 

The  chief-justice  in  1905  will  probably  write  no 
better  opinions,  seated  in  his  upholstered  chair  at  his 
table  of  quartered  oak  in  yonder  spacious  and  com- 
modious rooms  embellished  by  art,  than  did  his 
predecessor,  Chief-Justice  Bell  in  i860,  seated  in 
his  plain  chair  before  his  table  of  pine.  For  the 
principles  of  justice  are  immutable  ;  but  its  growing 
spirit  inspires  the  world.  Wendell  Phillips  said  that 
to  be  as  good  as  our  fathers  we  must  be  better.  We 
cannot  cast  any  dishonor  on  our  fathers;  but  we 
shall  honor  them  best  by  taking  what  is  best  and 
not  by  being  content  with  their  limitations.  Discon- 
tent no  less  than  contentment  may  be  a  virtue. 
To-day  is  not  as  yesterday.  It  is  not  a  good  thing 
to  think  one's  work  cannot  be  better  done,  because 
it  can  be  better  done.  There  may  be  great  truths 
in  law  and  ethics  as  in  the  arts  and  sciences 
not  yet  attained.  Therefore  as  we  this  day  conse- 
crate this  beautiful  temple  to  the  cause  of  learning 
and  justice,  may  the  memories  which  cluster  around 
the  past  incite  us  and  our  successors  to  higher 
achievements  in  the  cause  of  good  government,  that 
this  structure  in  all  that  it  stands  for  in  the  pro- 
motion of  law,  order,  and  knowledge  be  endeared 


38  STATE    LIBRARY    BUILDING. 

in   the   hearts    of  the  people    as   long   as   it   shall 
stand. 

The  President: — I  believe  the  whole  state  (ex- 
cepting possibly  Manchester)  is  disposed  to  credit 
the  capital  city  with  a  generous  act  in  the  donation 
of  a  part  of  the  land  occupied  in  connection  with  this 
building. 

Mayor  Cogswell,  in  behalf  of  the  city  of  Concord, 
will  make  to  you  such  suggestions  as  may  seem  to 
him  pertinent  in  regard  to  his  city's  connection  with 
the  selection  and  purchase  of  the  site  of  this  building. 

RESPONSE  OF    HON.  P.  B.  COGSWELL,  MAYOR    OF   CONCORD. 

As  a  representative  of  the  municipal  government 
of  the  capital  city,  it  gives  me  pleasure  to  assist  in 
the  dedication  of  this  superb  edifice  to  the  noble 
purposes  for  which  it  is  designed.  In  a  spirit  be- 
fitting part  of  the  motto  of  our  city  seal — ''  Law, 
Education" — the  city  council  responded  to  the  call 
of  the  state  library  commissioners  for  additional  land 
to  enable  them  to  carry  out  more  completely  their 
plans  for  this  library  building,  by  condemning  in  the 
spring  of  1892,  certain  real  estate  on  the  north, 
extending  to  Centre  street.  The  awarded  damages 
to  the  owners  of  that  property  aggregated  over 
$25,000,  and  provision  for  payment  thereof  was 
made  by  a  temporary  loan,  which  was  met  by  the 
present  city  council  authorizing  an  issue  of  bonds 
bearing  three  and  one  half  per  cent,  interest.  It  is 
a  fact  which  may  possess  some  historical  interest 
hereafter,  that  these  are  the  lowest  rate  interest- 
bearing  bonds  ever  issued  by  any  city  or  town  of 


THE    DEDICATION. 


39 


our  good  old  commonwealth,  and  that  most  of  them 
were  taken  by  our  own  citizens. 

When  the  library  commissioners  called  last  spring 
for  the  land  taken  for  a  public  park,  the  city  council 
ordered  the  speedy  removal  of  the  houses  situated 
thereon,  and  aided  in  the  construction  of  substantial 
sidewalks  on  the  streets  around  this  building  and 
its  grounds.  The  city  of  Concord  has  thus  met  all 
the  calls  made  upon  it  by  the  state  library  commis- 
sioners concerning  this  edifice,  and  faithfully  fulfilled 
all  of  its  obligations  relating  thereto.  I  confess  to 
a  feeling  akin  to  pride  for  our  goodly  city  in  that 
it  has  borne  its  part  so  well  in  furthering  the  aim 
of  the  commissioners  to  provide  a  befitting  home 
for  our  state  library,  and  suitable  apartments  for  the 
administration  of  justice,  guarded  by  law. 

Of  the  helpfulness  and  unmeasurable  usefulness 
of  public  libraries,  it  is  not  my  province  to  speak. 
Others  who  have  profited  from  them,  largely  and 
wisely,  will  hold  your  attention  with  apt  and  gracious 
words  concerning  them.  It  only  remains  for  me  to 
commend  the  state  library  commissioners  for  the 
able,  faithful,  and  successful  manner  in  which  they 
have  discharged  the  duties  imposed  upon  them  by 
the  legislature  of  1891;  and  to  congratulate  the 
trustees  of  the  state  library  and  all  its  beneficiaries, 
and  the  Supreme  Court  of  our  state,  that  they  are 
to  have  so  beautiful,  commodious,  and  well-appointed 
quarters  in  the  future  as  this  edifice  of  enduring 
granite  and  marble  will  afford  them.  I  am  sure  I 
voice  the  sentiment  of  all  present  in  expressing  the 
hope  that  this  building  may  long  escape  the  crum- 


40  STATE    LIBRARY    BUILDING. 

bling  decay  incident  to  age  and  climate,  and  that 
the  state  Hbrary  to  be  housed  herein  may  never 
suffer  from  fire,  or  flood,  or  other  destructive  agency, 
but  that  it  may  continue  to  grow  in  interest  and 
vahie  to  our  city  and  state  for  centuries  to  come, 
aye,  "to  the  last  syllable  of  recorded  time." 

The  President: — From  this  day  the  active  man- 
agement and  control  of  this  library  will  be  assumed 
by  its  trustees. 

The  present  board  is  eminently  well  qualified  for 
the  proper  discharge  of  this  important  duty,  and  we 
only  hope  that  in  the  coming  years  its  interests  will 
always  find  as  intelligent  and  faithful  guardians  as 
those  who  are  to-day  represented  by  their  president, 
whom  I  now  have  the  pleasure  of  introducing  to 
you, — Mr.  Gilmore  of  Manchester. 

REMARKS     BY    HON.    GEORGE    C.    GILMORE    IN     BEHALF   OF 
THE   TRUSTEES    OF   THE    STATE    LIBRARY. 

Little,  I  apprehend,  is  expected  of  the  local  man- 
agement in  the  exercises  of  to-day,  our  duties  being 
all  of  the  future,  and  it  would  certainly  be  pre- 
sumption on  my  part  to  attempt  to  interest  this 
large  audience  by  anything  I  might  say,  especially 
so  when  our  distinguished  guests  are  waiting  on  the 
platform  to  be  heard, — men  who  have  given  a  life 
time  to  library  management.  But  I  cannot  forbear 
saying  a  few  words  to  place  on  record  the  early 
efforts  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  towns  in  this  state 
to  establish  libraries.  Dover  is  undoubtedly  entitled 
to  the  honor  of  having  been  the  first  in  the  list,  as 


THE    DEDICATION.  4I 

early  as  July,  1776,  although  the  charter  for  her 
social  library  was  not  granted  until  December  18, 
1792;  Rochester's  social  library  chartered  February 
14,  1794;  Portsmouth's  and  Tamworth's  both  the 
same  date,  June  14,  1796,  the  above  being  the  first 
four  charters  granted;  from  1792  to  1800,  sixty,  and 
from  1801  to  1883,  one  hundred  and  eighty-seven, 
making  a  total  of  two  hundred  and  forty-seven,  and 
at  the  present  time  only  sixty  towns  are  without  a 
library. 

The  petitioners  for  the  social  library  of  Tamworth 
present  the  advantages  of  a  library  as  follows: 
"Whereas  a  general  diffusion  of  useful  knowledge 
in  a  land  of  liberty  has  a  happy  tendency  to  pre- 
serve freedom,  and  make  better  men  and  better 
citizens." 

The  first  absolutely  free  public  library  is  supposed 
to  be  that  of  the  town  of  Peterborough,  in  1833. 
The  legislature  of  New  Hampshire  in  July,  1849, 
passed  an  act  allowing  towns  to  maintain  libraries 
by  taxation,  being  the  first  act  authorizing  the 
people  of  the  several  towns  to  tax  themselves  to 
maintain  libraries,  in  the  United  States. 

The  President: — Without  any  disloyalty  to  our 
own  alma  mater,  we  all  have  a  feeling  of  pride  in 
our  state  institution  of  learning,  which  is  now  having 
a  new  birth  under  its  recently  appointed  president, — 
a  man  known  and  honored  by  scholars  all  over  the 
land. 

I  think  I  may  adopt  the  words  of  the  brilliant 
English  essayist  and  historian,  in  introducing  to  you 


42  STATE    LIBRARY    BUILDING. 

Rev.  Dr.  Tucker,  president  of  Dartmouth  College, 
"  He  is  a  man  of  the  world  among  men  of  letters, 
and  a  man  of  letters  among  men  of  the  world." 

Mr.  Chairman,  Your  Excellency,  Your  Honors, 
AND  Gentlemen  of  the  Legislature  :  I  ask  at  once 
in  your  presence, — the  question  is  prompted  by  the 
occasion, — how  shall  we  ensure  to  the  state  or 
commonwealth,  a  rightful  part  in  the  present  revival 
of  civic  pride  throughout  the  country  ? 

The  chief  effect  of  that  revival,  as  we  are  now 
conscious  of  it,  is  the  glorious  assurance  of  nation- 
ality. '*  We  the  people"  have  at  last  become  the 
nation,  and  we  know  it.  It  has  not  been  an  easy 
matter  for  us  to  reach  this  supreme  consciousness. 
As  late  as  1811  Josiah  Quincy  made  this  confession 
from  his  seat  in  congress  :  "  Sir,  I  confess  it,  the  first 
public  love  of  my  heart  is  the  Commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts.  There  is  my  fireside  ;  there  are  the 
tombs  of  my  ancestors."  That  was  the  utterance, 
not  of  South  Carolina,  but  of  Massachusetts,  in  the 
national  house  of  representatives,  twenty-three  years 
after  the  adoption  of  the  constitution.  No  Massa- 
chusetts man,  no  man,  I  trust,  from  any  state,  would 
utter  that  sentiment  now.  The  events  of  our  gener- 
ation, in  which  some  of  you  were  actors,  have 
wrought  a  mighty  change  in  our  opinions  and  in  our 
feelings.  The  nation  sits  enthroned  to-day  in  the 
hearts  of  the  people.  The  most  interesting  and  the 
most  inspiring  expression  of  civic  pride  is  this  calm 
but  proud  consciousness  of  nationality.  We  are 
beginning  to  realize  to  ourselves  the  great  conception 


THE    DEDICATION. 


43 


of  Milton  :  "  Not  many  sovereignties  united  in  one 
commonwealth,  but  many  commonwealths  in  one 
united  and  entrusted  sovereignty." 

The  present  revival  of  civic  pride  may  be  seen  at 
work,  if  not  equally,  yet  with  marked  effect,  at  the 
other  extreme  of  our  political  organization,  in  the 
municipality.  Next  to  the  national  feeling,  the 
municipal  feeling  is  at  present  the  strongest.  Some- 
thing of  this  feeling  is  due  of  course  to  the  recog- 
nized peril  of  the  cities.  It  is  in  many  cases  the 
sense  of  danger  which  tests  the  depth  of  our  affec- 
tion, which  may  discover  the  fact  itself  to  us. 
Probably  no  city  in  the  country  has  had,  in  proportion 
to  its  importance,  less  municipal  pride  than  the  city 
of  New  York,  but  he  must  be  less  than  an  alien, 
whether  resident  for  longer  or  shorter  time,  who  does 
not  now  feel  the  responsibility  of  citizenship.  The 
sense  of  responsibility,  however,  is  not  the  chief  sign 
of  municipal  pride,  but  rather  the  increasing  sense  of 
opportunity.  The  city  is  beginning  to  stand  for 
more  than  size  ;  it  represents  every  possible  advance 
and  improvement.  The  period  of  silly  rivalries  and 
competitions  about  numbers  has  been  out-grown, 
and  account  is  being  taken  of  solid  and  substan- 
tial growths.  Men  are  seeking  to  be  identified 
not  only  in  personal  interest,  but  in  reputation  and 
name  with  their  respective  cities.  Schools,  libraries, 
museums,  parks,  bearing  the  names  of  individual 
donors,  are  the  visible  evidence  of  an  enlarged 
municipal  enthusiasm  ;  while  the  surer  though  less 
conspicuous  sign  is  found  in  the  fact  that  here  and 
there  a  citizen  of  acknowledged  capacity  is  willing  to 


44  STATE    LIBRARY   BUILDING. 

forego  further  gains  in  his  business  or  profession, 
that  he  may  answer  in  person  the  demand  for  honest 
and  capable  government.  The  ardent  imagination 
of  Mr.  Depew  interprets  a  popular  tendency,  when 
he  predicts  that  the  second  office  in  the  United 
States  will  soon  be  that  of  mayor  of  greater  New 
York. 

Now  in  this  revival  of  civic  pride,  so  manifestly 
affecting  the  nation  and  the  city,  what  of  the  state, 
the  old  commonwealth,  the  original  substance  and 
life  out  of  which  in  due  time  the  nation  was  born, 
and  from  whose  permanent  and  abounding  vitality 
cities  are  now  springing  forth  ?  Evidently  the  day 
for  the  reassertion  of  rights  once  surrendered  is 
forever  past,  and  no  encroachment  upon  the  interests 
of  the  growing  communities  may  be  allowed.  But 
the  commonwealth  remains,  worthy  of  a  like  place  in 
the  honorable  pride  of  its  citizens  with  that  held  by 
the  nation  or  a  city. 

And  amongst  us  the  opportunity,  if  not  the  neces- 
sity, for  some  very  practical  expression  of  this  pride 
of  state,  is  apparent  in  the  fact  that  the  influence  of 
New  Hampshire  is  not  overshadowed  by  that  of  a 
great  municipality  within  its  borders.  With  us  the 
state  is  not  in  bondage  to  the  city,  nor  subordinate  to 
it.  Neither  can  the  state  throw  off  its  responsibility  to 
provide  for  the  higher  wants  of  its  citizens  upon  any 
one  locality,  equipped  with  all  the  modern  appliances 
of  progress, — the  library,  the  museum,  the  university. 
In  few  states  of  the  nation  are  the  resources  so 
variously,  if  not  equally,  distributed  as  in  our  own. 
Every  section  of  it,  east  and  west,  south  and  north, 


THE    DEDICATION.  45 

has  a  share  In  its  history.  The  whole  state  had  its 
pre-existence  in  the  province.  And  under  the 
incoming  of  the  later  industries,  and  the  consequent 
re-distribution  of  population,  the  ancient  equality 
has  not  been  altogether  destroyed.  It  is  the  state, 
not  a  city,  which  still  offers  the  great  attraction  to 
visitors  from  far  and  near.  It  is  the  state,  not  any 
one  locality,  which  holds  undeveloped  resources  out 
of  which  new  industries  may  spring  for  the  support 
of  new  populations.  It  is  the  state  at  large  which 
shelters  the  great  schools,  which  send  out  the  sons  of 
New  Hampshire  into  other  states,  and  which  draw 
to  their  training  the  sons  of  all  the  states.  It  is,  in 
a  word,  the  state,  the  old  commonwealth  in  its 
entirety,  not  a  city,  not  any  localized  centre,  by 
means  of  which  we  are  to  maintain  the  honor  of  our 
inheritance,  and  keep  step  with  the  march  of  the 
nation. 

I  welcome  therefore,  Mr.  Chairman,  as  a  citizen 
of  New  Hampshire,  the  occasion  in  which  we  dedi- 
cate in  the  name  of  the  state  another  building,  the 
choicest  of  its  outward  possessions,  to  be  henceforth 
one  more  visible  reminder  of  the  real  presence  and 
personality  of  the  commonwealth.  I  rejoice  espe- 
cially in  the  object  of  this  building,  which  shows  in 
so  representative  a  way  the  enlarging  functions  of 
the  state.  It  answers  in  part,  by  illustration  at  least, 
the  question  with  which  I  began — how  shall  we 
ensure  to  the  commonwealth  its  share  in  the  present 
revival  of  civic  pride  ? 

I  go  on  then  to  speak  of  the  maintenance  of  the 
state  library  as  one  of  the  means  through  which  we 


46  STATE    LIBRARY    BUILDING. 

may  show  our  pride  of  state,  and  also  as  one  of  the 
agencies  through  which  we  may  develop  the  higher 
interests  of  the  commonwealth.  I  congratulate  my- 
self and  you  that  I  may  restrict  my  further  thought 
to  this  nearer  aspect  of  the  present  occasion  in  view 
of  the  scope  of  the  address  which  is  to  follow.  It  is 
to  the  honor  of  New  Hampshire  that  at  the  dedica- 
tion of  its  library  building,  the  state  may  summon 
one  of  its  sons  from  his  post  at  the  head  of  the 
national  library. 

It  may  seem  almost  too  obvious  for  me  to  say, 
that  it  is  through  the  agency  of  the  library,  that  the 
state  is  best  able  to  avail,  itself  of  its  own  history. 
But  the  full  meaning  of  this  statement  does  not 
appear  in  the  utterance  of  it.  The  history  of  a  great 
past  is  made  available  only  to  the  degree  in  which  it 
can  be  reproduced  in  spirit  in  the  continuous  life  of 
a  people.  But  what  is  the  continuous  life  of  a 
people  ?  What  is  the  continuous  life  of  the  people 
of  New  Hampshire  ?  Not  the  unbroken  succession 
of  families.  Not  the  local  increase  of  the  native 
stock.  Names  once  significant  in  the  annals  of  the 
state  have  disappeared,  or  appear  only  in  remoter 
regions.  Families  of  wide  connection  and  of  ex- 
tended influence  remain  as  remnants.  Others,  let 
us  rejoice,  survive  in  the  fullness  of  their  strength, 
and  gain  upon  their  heritage.  But  if  the  state,  if 
any  of  the  older  states,  were  dependent  upon  the 
original  stock  it  would  exist  as  a  fragment  of  its 
former  self,  unless  it  could  call  home  its  own.  The 
state  continues  to  live  through  the  incoming  of  the 
new,  through  constant  accessions  from  various  and 


THE    DEDICATION.  47 

unforeseen  sources.  This  continuity  of  life  is  abso- 
lutely dependent  upon  the  process  of  assimilation, 
the  moral  part  of  which  lies  in  the  power  of  the  state 
to  impress  its  principles,  its  history,  itself,  upon 
those  who  may  choose  to  share  its  fortunes. 

Pardon  me  if  I  pause  to  assert  and  emphasize  the 
fact,  that  there  are  none  amongst  us  upon  whom  the 
great  men  and  the  great  events  of  our  history  are 
making  a  deeper  impression,  than  upon  the  more 
receptive  minds  of  the  new  population.  We  ignore 
or  underestimate  this  fact  in  times  of  social  depres- 
sion. We  forget  the  philosophy  which  underlies  it. 
Noble  traditions  lose  their  power  when  held  in  too 
easy  and  familiar  possession.  Inspiration  does  not 
long  abide  in  what  has  become  to  anyone  the  com- 
monplace. But  the  familiar  deed  springs  into  new- 
ness of  life  as  often  as  it  gains  a  fresh  hearing.  It 
is  not  alone  the  new  seed,  it  is  the  new  soil,  which 
explains  the  harvest.  Again  and  again  have  I 
watched  the  kindling  of  eager  minds,  coming  from 
other  states,  as  I  have  told  the  early  story  of  Dart- 
mouth, that  heroic  romance  in  education,  when  there 
was  nothing  in  personal  inheritance  or  personal 
association  to  waken  the  mind,  nothing  but  the 
contact  of  an  inspiring  history  with  a  quick  intelli- 
gence. We  grievously  mistake  if  we  suppose  that 
history  appeals  only  to  those  who  are  the  natural 
heirs  to  the  deeds  which  it  records.  History  never 
fails  in  its  appeal  to  men  as  they  come  and  go,  pro- 
vided the  sources  are  kept  full  and  open,  so  that  it 
may  be  rewritten  to  the  mind  of  each  generation. 
Here  is  the  advantage  in  part  of  such  a  library  as 


48  STATE    LIBRARY    BUILDING. 

this,  in  distinction  from  the  ordinary  private,  educa- 
tional, or  public  library.  We  build  here  upon  foun- 
dations already  laid  a  great  storehouse  for  orig- 
inals— documents  of  every  sort  illustrative  of  early 
and  later  history,  dispatches,  records,  reports,  ad- 
dresses, letters, — nothing  of  this  nature  too  small  or 
too  remote  to  be  neglected.  This  is  not  the  mate- 
rial for  a  circulating  library.  It  has  another  use  and 
another  value.  Here  is  the  material  on  deposit 
which  gives  worth  to  the  current  literature  of  its 
kind.  You  open  here  a  home  and  a  workshop  for 
the  investigator,  the  scholar,  the  writer,  the  man 
who  is  to  come  hither  with  knowledge  and  imagina- 
tion, capable  of  translating  this  ancient  life  into  the 
speech  and  life  of  to-day.  So  you  make  the  history 
of  the  state  available  in  ever  recurring  variety  of 
form.  For,  as  I  have  intimated,  it  is  of  the  very 
genius  of  history,  that  it  should  be  written  to  an  age, 
and  therefore  its  story  continually  retold  with  new 
motive  and  in  new  setting.  The  age  which  sings 
the  Iliad  to  the  notes  of  camp  and  battle  and  siege, 
is  not  content  till  it  has  sung  the  Odyssey  in  the 
strains  of  love  and  home  and  kindred,  the  arts  of 
peace,  and  the  common  ways  of  men.  Every  con- 
siderable period  of  history  presents  various  aspects. 
We  want  to  know  them  all  to  know  the  period.  We 
want  to  know,  of  course,  the  story  of  discovery,  and 
adventure,  and  war ;  we  want  to  know  the  record  of 
political  struggle,  and  religious  advance,  and  educa- 
tional development,  the  growth  of  the  arts  and 
industries.  There  is  the  true  source  and  reason  of 
events,  the  mere   narration  of  which  we  sometimes 


THE    DEDICATION.  49 

think  makes  history.  History  in  Its  highest  form  Is 
the  discovery  of  cause  and  reason  ;  It  Is  the  explana- 
tion of  actions  and  events.  We  read  the  memorable 
speech  of  the  ''  Defender  of  the  Constitution " 
through  which  he  postponed  secession  for  thirty 
years,  and  made  It  thereafter  more  possible  to  save 
the  Union.  Is  that  speech  of  Mr.  Webster's  to  be 
explained  by  Its  own  greatness  ?  Not  at  all.  His 
father  had  made  It  before  him.  At  that  critical  hour 
when  the  convention  of  New  Hampshire  met  to 
adopt  or  reject  the  constitution,  when  Its  vote  to 
adopt  would  complete  the  number  of  states  neces- 
sary to  form  the  Union,  when  the  conventions  of 
New  York  and  Virginia  then  in  session  were  anx- 
iously waiting  the  result,  couriers  having  been  sta- 
tioned by  order  of  Hamilton  to  carry  the  news  from 
Concord  to  Poughkeepsle,  and  on  to  Richmond,  In 
that  convention  where  the  result  was  in  serious 
doubt,  Colonel  Webster  arose  and  uttered  this  senti- 
ment,— the  language  may  show  the  revision  of  a 
later  hand : 

''  Mr.  President :  I  have  listened  to  the  arguments 
for  and  against  the  constitution.  I  am  convinced 
that  such  a  government  as  that  constitution  will 
establish.  If  adopted — a  government  acting  directly 
on  the  people  of  the  states — is  necessary  for  the 
common  defense  and  the  general  welfare.  It  Is  the 
only  government  which  will  enable  us  to  pay  the 
national  debt,  the  debt  which  we  owe  for  the  Revolu- 
tion, and  which  we  are  bound  in  honor  fully  and 
fairly  to  discharge.     Sir,  I  shall  vote  for  Its  adoption." 


50  STATE    LIBRARY    BUILDING. 

The  reply  to  Hayne  was  the  echo  of  the  speech  of 
the  New  Hampshire  farmer.  It  was  the  same  spirit 
which  urged  the  adoption  of  the  constitution  in  that 
hour  of  doubt,  which,  in  the  hour  of  its  danger,  rose 
to  its  defense.     The  speech  was  in  the  blood. 

The  constant  and  honorable  boast  of  New  Hamp- 
shire has  been  of  the  quality  of  the  men  whom  she 
could  furnish  to  the  nation.  One  historian  writes  of 
a  given  administration,  and  that  one  of  the  best, 
that  at  its  time  New  Hampshire  could  have  furnished 
from  the  number  of  her  own  public  men,  the  full 
equivalent  for  those  who  held  the  offices  of  president 
and  vice-president,  and  also  of  those  who  held  seats 
in  the  cabinet.  Grant  it.  Who  were  behind  these 
men,  and  made  them  possible  ?  As  we  have  seen  in 
an  illustrious  instance,  such  men  do  not  explain 
themselves.  You  might  as  well  try  to  explain  the 
flow  of  the  Merrimack  as  it  sweeps  these  meadows 
on  its  way  to  the  struggle  and  toil  below,  without 
pointing  to  the  hills,  as  to  attempt  to  explain  the 
public  men  of  the  state  without  going  back  into  the 
life  of  the  people.  What  we  ask,  therefore,  first  of 
all  for  this  library,  is  that  it  shall  be  made  complete 
to  the  last  degree  in  whatever  pertains  to  the  history 
of  the  people  of  the  state ;  that  it  shall  be  a  reposi- 
tory, not  only  for  public  documents,  but  also  for 
private  papers ;  that  it  shall  reach  out  after  all  facts, 
however  transmitted,  which  have  a  bearing  on  vital 
questions  of  state  interest ;  and  that  it  shall  be  able 
to  trace  the  great  events  in  which  the  state  has  had 
a  part,  and  the  great  men  whom  it  has  sent  forth, 
back  to  the  causes   which  determined  or  produced 


THE    DEDICATION.  5 1 

them.  What  we  want,  in  a  word,  is  a  library  which 
will  explain  New  Hampshire. 

A  more  direct,  if  not  equally  obvious,  use  of  the 
library  for  the  advancement  of  the  state,  is  to  be 
seen  in  the  very  great  aid  which  it  offers  toward 
intelligent  legislation,  the  interpretation  of  the  laws 
and  general  administration.  Doubtless  we  have  in 
this  use  of  the  library  the  chief  intent  of  its  founders. 
The  statute  under  which  the  library  is  administered, 
provides  first  that  it  shall  be  *'for  the  use  of  the 
governor  and  council,  officers  of  the  state  govern- 
ment, the  legislature  and  the  clerks  thereof,  the 
judges  of  the  supreme  court,  and  such  other  persons 
as  the  trustees  may  determine;  "  and  afterward  in 
fixing  the  duties  of  the  trustees,  it  prescribes  that 
**they  shall  procure  for  the  library  full  sets  of  the 
statutes  and  law  reports  of  the  United  States,  and 
of  the  several  states;  histories,  including  those  of 
the  counties  and  towns  of  the  state  whenever  pub- 
lished ;  maps,  charts,  works  on  agriculture,  political 
economy,  the  arts  and  natural  sciences,  copies  of 
state  papers  and  publications  relating  to  the  material, 
social,  and  religious  conditions  of  the  people,  or 
bearing  upon  the  business  and  objects  of  legislation, 
and  such  other  works  as  they  may  deem  suitable, 
works  of  fiction  excepted." 

Naturally  this  is  a  law  library  in  its  largest  intent 
and  purpose.  The  provision  which  has  been  made 
in  this  building  for  the  sessions  of  the  supreme 
court  emphasizes  this  purpose,  as  also  the  mention 
of  the  duty,  first  among  those  prescribed  for  the 
trustees,    '*  of  procuring  for  the  library  full  sets  of 


52  STATE    LIBRARY    BUILDING. 

the  Statutes  and  law  reports  of  the  United  States 
and  of  the  several  states.'*  It  is  a  matter  of  congrat- 
ulation, that  in  the  comparison  which  this  array  of 
statutes  and  reports  invites,  the  reports  of  New 
Hampshire  hold  by  common  consent  so  high  and 
honorable  a  place.  Indeed  this  was  to  have  been 
expected,  if  we  recall  the  names,  which,  in  the 
quaint  language  of  a  former  generation,  ''  reflected 
the  gladsome  light  of  jurisprudence," — the  names  of 
Weare,  Bartlett,  Langdon,  Livermore,  Woodbury, 
Bell,  Smith,  Parker,  Perley,  and  so  many  of  their 
associates, — an  honor  one  and  all  to  any  bench. 

It  does  not  fall  to  my  lot  to  speak  of  the  relation 
of  the  state  to  its  bench  or  courts,  but  without 
venturing  beyond  the  province  of  a  layman,  I  may 
fitly  call  attention  to  the  present  demand  for  the 
more  general  knowledge  of  what  may  be  termed  the 
literature  of  the  law,  the  knowledge  of  statutes  and 
reports,  as  indispensable  to  wise  legislation.  As 
any  one  can  see,  the  relation  between  the  federal 
and  state  authority  is  becoming  at  certain  points 
complicated  and  sensitive.  No  past  political  condi- 
tions have  ever  involved  issues  of  greater  perplexity 
than  those  involved  in  present  economic  and  indus- 
trial conditions.  Decisions  are  rendered  almost 
every  month  by  some  one  of  the  United  States 
courts  affecting  the  interests  of  corporations  and  of 
labor  in  every  state  of  the  Union.  Not  long  since, 
in  a  western  state,  I  chanced  to  listen  to  an  after- 
dinner  speech  from  one  of  the  younger  judges  of 
the  United  States  court  of  appeals,  in  which,  though 
a  man  of  remarkable  wit,  he  put  aside  at  once  the 


THE    DEDICATION.  53 

pleasantries  of  the  hour  that  he  might  impress  upon 
the  company  the  very  great  seriousness  of  the 
questions  upon  which  the  federal  courts  were  called 
upon  to  pass  in  determining  the  rights  of  property 
and  the  rights  of  service.  The  discussion  was  as 
earnest  as  an  utterance  of  the  pulpit.  And  between 
the  states  the  lack  of  uniformity  in  the  very  princi- 
ples of  legislation  is  becoming  in  some  cases  not 
only  serious  but  grievous.  One  has  but  to  refer  in 
illustration  to  subjects  so  widely  removed  from  one 
another  as  taxation  and  divorce.  At  such  a  time  the 
value  of  a  state  library  which  gives  ready  and  com- 
plete ihformation  on  all  points  of  current  decisions 
and  statute  law  cannot  be  overestimated.  A  library 
with  these  facilities  seems  as  much  a  part  of  the 
equipment  of  the  legislature  as  of  the  courts.  It 
has  a  distinct  moral  influence.  Through  its  system 
of  exchange  it  keeps  open  communication  between 
the  states.  It  enables  us  to  realize  the  closeness  of 
the  fellowship  of  the  body  politic.  ''  If  one  member 
suffers,  all  the  members  suffer  with  it." 

The  statute,  however,  which  wisely  gives  prece- 
dence to  law  in  the  furnishing  of  the  library,  makes 
generous  provision  for  other  subjects  which  have  to 
do  with  the  material  and  social  development  of  the 
state.  I  see  no  reason  why  this  provision  should 
not  be  fulfilled,  as  far  as  the  annual  appropriations 
may  allow.  The  teachers  of  the  state  have  already 
asked  that  a  department  of  pedagogy  may  be 
opened.  Why  should  not  requests  be  urged  from 
other  sources?  Why,  for  example,  should  not  the 
library  be  made   tributary  to  our  great   industries  ? 


54  STATE    LIBRARY    BUILDING. 

Where  should  one  interested  in  any  one  of  these 
expect  to  look  for  careful  information  except  to  such 
a  library  as  this  ?  Where  else  within  the  state  could 
one  hope  to  find  it?  Technical  departments  are  to 
be  found  to  a  certain  extent  in  our  educational 
libraries,  and  here  and  there  thQ  public  library  of  a 
city  may  provide  some  books  of  this  character  on  a 
given  industry.  But  to  what  source  ought  one  to 
turn  for  such  discriminating  and  well-directed  in- 
formation on  the  industries  of  the  state  as  to  the 
state  library  ?  Here  again  I  must  remind  you  that  we 
have  no  great  centre  to  which  we  can  look  except  to 
the  state  itself.  And  in  so  far  as  the  state  may  see 
fit  to  answer  this  demand,  let  us  suggest  that  when- 
ever any  department  of  this  kind  is  set  up,  the  fact 
be  made  known,  and  a  classified  list  of  the  books  in 
the  department  be  published  and  circulated.  Grad- 
ually and  without  undue  expense,  the  state  library 
may  become  an  authority  upon  many  matters  of 
industrial  and  economic  value. 

Allow  me  the  further  suggestion  that  such  works 
as  have  to  do  most  immediately  with  the  resources 
of  the  state  be  duplicated,  and  distributed  at  conven- 
ient centres,  usually  in  connection  with  a  town 
library,  but  under  the  control  of  the  state  library. 
Such  a  distribution  would  create  among  our  citizens 
a  habit  of  thinking  about  the  state  and  its  interests. 
It  would  provide  material  in  advance  for  our  legisla- 
tures. It  would  add  to  that  general  intelligence 
which  they  bring  to  their  duties  a  special  knowledge 
on  many  points,  which  there  is  little  time  to  gain 
during  the  session  of  the  legislature-     It  would  be  a 


THE    DEDICATION.  55 

Step  for  the  state  to  take  out  among  the  people, 
arousing  them  to  a  greater  interest  in  their  citizen- 
ship. Like  the  attempt  of  which  I  have  spoken  to 
make  the  Hbrary  available  for  recovering  the  history 
of  the  state,  it  would  make  the  library  more  available 
for  its  present  and  future  advancement.  A  great 
library,  of  any  kind  whatever,  is  more  than  a  reposi- 
tory. That  is  its  second  use.  The  first  and  supreme 
object  is  to  inform,  incite,  awaken.  Rightly  used,  it 
is  one  of  the  creative  agencies  of  civilization. 

Assuming  that  the  specific  uses  of  a  state  library 
are  such  as  have  been  indicated,  namely,  to  give  the 
state  the  advantage  among  its  citizens  of  its  own 
history,  and  to  aid  the  state  appropriately  in  the 
making  and  interpretation  of  its  laws,  and  the  devel- 
opment of  its  resources,  it  remains  for  me  to  speak 
of  the  library  as  standing  for  the  identification  of  the 
state  with  the  whole  intellectual  life  of  the  people. 
In  the  language  of  the  inaugural  address,  ''its  rela- 
tions to  our  educational  system  should  be  intimate." 
I  take  the  apt  suggestion  of  the  term.  Intimacy  of 
relationship  rather  than  domination  or  control  is  the 
<:haracteristic  of  the  New  England  states  in  their 
educational  policy.  The  distinction  in  educational 
policy  between  the  earlier  and  later  commonwealths 
is  marked.  The  later  commonwealths,  almost  with- 
out exception,  have  created  elaborate  educational 
systems,  culminating  in  a  university,  which  they  sup- 
port and  control.  The  earlier  commonwealths  de- 
mand popular  education  as  the  basis  of  citizenship, 
and  within  certain  limits  they  carefully  provide  for 
it,  but  they  seek  to  arouse  the  public  spirit  of  indi- 


56  STATE    LIBRARY   BUILDING. 

vidual  citizens,  and  to  develop  private  munificence. 
Hence  the  peculiar  phenomena,  to  be  seen  on  every 
hand,  attending  the  intellectual  development  of  New 
England ;  great  schools,  colleges,  and  universities 
founded  and  maintained  by  endowments ;  the  for- 
tunes of  private  citizens  returning  in  part  to  their 
native  towns  in  the  gift  of  libraries  ;  voluntary  asso- 
ciations springing  up  in  all  parts  of  the  community 
for  the  mutual  advantage  and  improvement  of  their 
members.  Meanwhile  the  state  is  no  mere  on- 
looker, an  indifferent  or  curious  spectator,  its  inter- 
ests elsewhere,  itself  intent  on  other  and  lower  ends. 
The  state  is  the  watchful  guardian,  the  solicitous 
friend,  the  helper  and  patron.  Its  interest  in  what- 
ever concerns  the  intellectual  life  of  the  people  is 
active,  constant,  and  altogether  beneficent.  The 
state  acts  by  various  methods ;  now  working  through 
legislation,  as  when  it  reaffirms  more  vigorously  the 
principle  of  compulsory  intelligence;  now  entering 
into  cooperation  with  the  communities  under  its 
care,  as  in  the  library  system  of  our  own  state  and 
of  Massachusetts ;  now  granting  immunities  and 
privileges  to  institutions  of  learning  when  necessary 
to  their  freedom,  not  hesitating  if  need  be  to  offer 
the  helping  hand  ;  and  now  teaching  by  example,  as 
by  this  occasion,  and  through  the  dignity  and  worth 
of  its  own  standards,  broadening  the  public  thought, 
and  elevating  the  public  taste.  Such  by  tradition 
and  by  increasing  practice,  is  the  New  England  com- 
monwealth in  the  intimacy  of  its  relationship  to  the 
intellectual  life  of  the  people.  It  was  a  statesman, 
you  recall,   not  a  theorist,  a  mere  scholar  or  poet, 


THE    DEDICATION.  57 

who  said,  **The  state  is  a  partnership  in  all  science, 
a  partnership  in  all  art,  a  partnership  in  every  virtue. 
And  as  the  end  of  such  a  partnership  cannot  be 
obtained  in  many  generations,  it  becomes  a  partner- 
ship not  only  between  those  who  are  living,  but 
between  those  who  are  living,  and  those  who  are 
dead,  and  those  who  are  yet  to  be  born." 

It  is  impossible  to  overestimate  the  impression 
which  the  state  is  able  to  make  upon  its  citizens 
through  this  noble  union,  this  high  partnership  in 
great  interests.  Nothing  else  can  rouse  them  to 
such  a  degree  of  civic  pride. 

The  state,  we  must  remember,  does  not  always 
appear  before  us  in  this  aspect.  So  many  of  its 
functions  are  negative  and  repressive.  It  is  through 
the  state  that  we  deal  with  crime.  Much  of  its  leg- 
islation is  the  iteration  of  the  commandments. 
There  is  a  majesty  in  this  aspect  of  the  state,  and 
there  is  benignity.  The  other  side  of  law  is  secur- 
ity, order,  peace.  Still  it  is  not  through  its  repres- 
sive force  that  we  respond  most  heartily  to  the 
power  of  the  state. 

Through  other  functions  the  state  is  concerned 
chiefly  with  material  interests.  These  interests  are 
vital.  Nothing  concerns  any  man  more  than  his 
daily  work,  the  work  itself,  and  the  result  of  it  in 
his  livelihood.  But  the  actual  power  of  the  state  to 
affect  business  is  far  less  than  that  of  the  general 
government.  In  every  state  election  the  issue 
broadens  into  the  field  of  national  politics.  No  citi- 
zen looks  exclusively  to  his  own  commonwealth  for 
the  adjustment  of  those  conditions  which  determine 
his  work,  his  business,  or  his  investments. 


58  STATE    LIBRARY    BUILDING. 

The  State  is  excluded  from  the  province  of  reli- 
gion. The  experiment  once  tried  in  that  direction 
will  never  be  repeated.  The  one  reservation  which 
the  individual  citizen  has  made  for  himself  for  all 
time  is  liberty  of  conscience,  in  every  possible  ex- 
pression of  it,  and  in  all  its  results. 

The  open  field  into  which  the  state  may  enter, 
where  it  may  exercise  unhindered  its  higher  minis- 
try, where  it  may  illustrate  this  noble  partnership,  is 
education,  the  development  of  the  intellectual,  and 
through  that,  the  moral  life  of  the  people.  The 
essential  contribution  of  New  Hampshire,  as  we 
fondly  believe,  to  the  life  of  the  nation,  has  been 
mental  character,  not  simply  brain  power,  not  sim- 
ply conscience,  but  character  informed  and  devel- 
oped by  the  trained  mind.  That  has  been  the 
ground  of  our  boasting.  We  have  no  other  to 
compare  with  it.  It  can  have  no  equivalent  and  no 
substitute.  We  may  cherish  local  associations  in 
the  state  with  a  sentiment  which  will  idealize  even 
its  rugged  and  barren  hills.  We  may  respect  the 
authority  of  the  state  as  it  guards  our  rights,  and 
protects  our  interests.  But  the  one  source  of  civic 
pride  for  the  state  is  the  maintenance  of  its  extraor- 
dinary intellectual  and  moral  history.  It  is  the 
remembrance  of  that,  and  that  above  all  else,  which 
quickens  the  blood,  and  stirs  the  spirit  within  us. 

Fellow  Citizens:  May  this  day  which  is  set  apart 
in  recognition  of  one  of  the  higher  functions  of  the 
state  recover  and  restore  to  us  this  former  ideal. 
And  accepting  the  inspiration  and  teaching  of  the 
present  hour,  may  we  understand  better  what  is  the 


THE    DEDICATION. 


59 


abiding   duty,  and  what   the    lasting   honor  of  the 
sons  of  this  ancient  commonwealth. 

Mr.  President:  As  suggested  by  Dr.  Tucker, 
the  Committee  has  been  especially  fortunate  in 
being  able  to  summon  Mr.  A.  R.  Spofford,  librarian 
of  the  National  library,  to  address  you  on  this 
occasion. 

Lord  Bacon's  classification  of  books  was,  "Some 
are  to  be  tasted,  others  to  be  swallowed,  and  a  few 
to  be  chewed  and  digested." 

They  credit  Mr.  Spofford  with  having  *' chewed 
and  digested  "  the  greater  part  of  the  books  in  the 
National  library.  He  will  tell  you  to-day,  something 
of  what  he  knows  of  the  books  he  has  devoured. 

I  have  the  honor  of  introducing  to  you  Mr. 
Spofford,  a  native  of  New  Hampshire,  but  a  citizen 
of  Washington. 

Mr.  Ainsworth  R.  Spofford,  Librarian  of  Congress, 
delivered  the  concluding  address  on 

THE   WORLD    OF    BOOKS. 

When  I  was  honored  by  the  invitation  to  take  a 
part  in  this  memorial  service,  I  felt  myself  constrained 
to  respond  to  the  call  by  two  considerations,  mainly  : 
first,  as  cherishing  an  active  interest  in  libraries,  in 
whose  service  the  greater  part  of  my  life  has  been 
spent, — and,  secondly,  as  contributing,  in  some  slight 
degree,  to  a  discharge  of  the  debt  which  every  man 
owes  to  the  region  of  his  nativity.  As  a  son  of  New 
Hampshire,  though  removed  in  very  early  life  from 
the  state,  I  take  pride  in  all  that  conduces  to  her 


6o  STATE    LIBRARY    BUILDING. 

honor,  her  advancement,  and  her  intellig-ence.  As  a 
librarian,  it  is  most  gratifying  to  me,  in  revisiting  my 
native  State,  to  behold  this  fair  temple  of  learning, 
which  you  have  carved  out  of  New  Hampshire  granite, 
and  which  you  are  now  dedicating  to  the  enlighten- 
ment of  the  legislative  body,  and  of  all  who  may  in 
the  future  use  its  stores.  It  is  equally  gratifying  to 
recall  the  fact,  that  at  the  capital  city  of  our  republic, 
another  great  library  edifice  now  nears  completion, 
constructed  of  New  Hampshire  granite,  from  the 
Concord  quarries,  as  pure  and  white  as  the  marble 
walls  of  the  capitol. 

But,  my  friends,  while  we  are  justly  solicitous  to 
provide  these  spacious  and  fire-proof  repositories  for 
the  books  of  the  nation  and  of  the  state,  and  to  adorn 
their  interiors  with  fitting  ornaments  and  memorials, 
we  are  not  to  forget  the  vast  importance  of  filling 
them  with  the  best  and  most  useful  means  of  infor- 
mation. To  what  purpose  do  we  dedicate  these 
splendid  temples  to  science  and  literature,  unless  we 
are  ready  to  provide  liberally  from  the  public  funds, 
to  equip  the  government  library  with  all  the  helps 
which  the  legislator  needs  ?  Indeed,  when  we  reflect 
that,  in  the  last  analysis,  our  laws  are  only  the  pro- 
duct of  our  learning,  (taking  learning  in  its  largest 
sense,)  we  see  that  there  is  almost  no  knowledge 
which  can  come  amiss  to  those  who  make  the  laws. 

It  is  trite  enough  for  me  to  remind  you  of  the 
saying  of  that  staunch  Scotch  republican,  Andrew 
Fletcher,  who  wrote,  two  centuries  ago,  that  '*if  a 
man  were  permitted  to  make  all  the  ballads  of  a 
nation,  he  need  not  care  who  should  make  the  laws." 


THE    DEDICATION.  6l 

But  the  profounder  meaning  of  the  aphorism  comes 
to  us  in  the  reflection  that  the  sentiments  of  human 
sympathy,  justice,  virtue,  and  freedom,  which  inspire 
the  best  poetry  of  all  nations,  become  sooner  or  later 
incarnated  in  their  laws.  If  there  are  those  narrow- 
minded  enough  to  think  that  poetry  is  out  of  place  in 
a  legislative  library,  let  them  remember  the  debt  the 
world  owes  to  its  great  poets,  from  Homer  down  to 
Robert  Burns.  Even  that  simple  little  song — with 
the  refrain — 

"  Then  let  us  pray  that  come  it  may, 
As  come  it  will,  for  a'  that, 
That  man  to  man,  the  world  o'er, 
Shall  brothers  be,  for  a'  that,"— 

may  have  contributed  almost  as  much  to  spread 
abroad  the  great  doctrine  of  human  equality,  as  the 
British  Magna  Charta,  or  the  American  Declaration 
of  Independence.  So,  also,  the  German  race  are 
deeply  indebted  to  the  ballads  of  Schiller  and  Korner, 
and  to  the  ideas  of  freedom  which  they  have  sown 
deep  in  the  minds  of  men  and  women  for  two 
generations,  for  that  measure  of  constitutional  liberty 
which  Germany  now  enjoys.  And  if  we  were  to 
inquire  whether  books  or  battles  have  contributed 
the  most  to  the  progress  of  mankind,  let  us  put  into 
one  scale  the  military  achievements  of  all  the  con- 
querors, and  into  the  other  all  the  glorious  literature 
of  the  world.  If  you  doubt  to  which  side  the  balance 
will  incline,  take  the  greatest  of  the  warriors,  him 
who  won  more  battles  than  any  man  known  to  history, 
who  marched  from  conquest  to  conquest,  made  him- 
self the    master   of   France — then    the    autocrat   of 


62  STATE    LIBRARY    BUILDING. 

Europe,  and  finally  filled  the  world  with  his  fame. 
After  sacrificing  on  the  altar  of  his  ambition,  the 
liberty  of  the  press,  the  freedom  of  opinion,  the  ties 
of  marriage,  the  peace  and  welfare  of  his  country, 
and  the  lives  of  more  than  a  million  Frenchmen,  he 
went  down  at  last,  his  many  crimes  against  humanity 
all  unredeemed  by  that  thin  varnish  which  men  call 
glory — another  witness  to  the  truth,  that  justice  still 
rules  the  world. 

All  history  and  all  literature  conspire  to  teach 
us  that  there  is  nothing  at  last  but  intellectual  and 
moral  power,  that  is  sacred  or  enduring  among  men. 
We  are  the  fortunate  heirs  of  the  intelligence  of  ages. 
The  thoughts  and  the  facts  that  are  garnered  up  in 
books,  are  endowed  with  a  life  that  is  perennial. 
Men  may  die,  and  legislators  may  perish,  and  libra- 
rians are  mortal :  but  libraries  and  literature  are 
immortal.  Even  though  the  ever-gnawing  tooth  of 
time  should  one  day  undermine  this  beautiful  struct- 
ure, and  its  granite  walls  should  crumble  to  decay, — 
yet  through  the  ever-living  power  of  the  magic  art 
of  printing,  books  will  survive,  and  the  thoughts  of 
the  mind  will  far  outlast  towers  of  granite,  and  mon- 
uments of  marble. 

"The  art  of  writing,"  says  a  great  scholar  of  our 
century, — Thomas  Carlyle,  ''certainly  is  the  most 
miraculous  of  all  things  which  man  has  devised.  Of 
all  things  which  men  can  do  or  make  here  below,  by 
far  the  most  momentous,  wonderful,  and  worthy,  are 
the  things  we  call  books."  And  indeed,  when  we 
thoughtfully  consider  how  wide  and  potential  are  the 
uses  of  written  speech,  out  of  which   the  world  of 


THE    DEDICATION.  63 

books  is  made,  It  seems  hardly  possible  to  overstate 
the  debt  which  we  owe  to  authors.  Books  are  the  re- 
positories of  the  wit  and  the  wisdom  of  mankind.  In 
their  pages  are  stored  the  vast  results  of  science,  the 
long  annals  of  history,  the  speculations  of  philoso- 
phers, the  Imaginations  of  poets,  the  discoveries  of 
inventors,  the  narratives  of  travellers  and  voyagers, 
the  lives  of  the  illustrious,  the  laws  and  politics  of 
nations,  the  observations  of  naturalists,  the  dreams 
of  enthusiasts,  the  fascinating  stories  of  fiction,  the 
creations  of  graphic  art,  the  harmonies  of  music,  the 
homilies  of  theologians,  the  correspondence  of  men 
of  letters,  the  verdicts  of  criticism,  the  traditions  of 
the  race,  and  the  manifold  languages  of  the  world. 

What  to  read,  when  to  read,  and  how  to  read, — 
these  are  questions  of  vital  Importance  to  each  one 
of  us.  While  I  have  not  the  presumption  to  sup- 
pose that  my  Ideas  upon  the  choice  of  reading  will 
present  anything  new,  I  must  infer  that  the  invitation 
to  address  you  takes  for  granted  on  my  part  such 
fitness  as  a  life  spent  among  books  and  the  readers 
of  books  may  Imply.  All  that  any  one  can  do  for 
others  is  to  suggest  to  them  a  clue,  which,  however 
feeble,  has  helped  to  guide  his  uncertain  footsteps 
through  that  tangled  maze  of  folly  and  wisdom  which 
we  call  literature.  And  my  excuse  for  venturing  to 
address  you  upon  a  theme  at  once  so  exacting  and 
so  important,  is  that  the  suggestions  which  I  may 
have  to  offer  are  the  fruit  of  a  candid  observation, 
and  an  experience  somewhat  prolonged. 

The  art  of  reading  to  the  best  advantage  Implies 
the  command  of  adequate  time  to  read.     The  art  of 


€4  STATE    LIBRARY    BUILDING. 

having  time  to  read  lies  in  learning-  how  to  make  the 
most  of  our  days.  Days  are  short,  and  time  is  fleet- 
ing, but  no  one's  day  ever  holds  less  than  twenty- 
four  hours.  Engrossing  as  one's  occupation  may 
be,  it  need  never  consume  all  the  time  remaining 
from  sleep,  refreshment,  and  needful  exercise.  The 
trouble  is,  most  persons  think  that  the  unappropria- 
ted intervals  when  business  waits  are  too  brief  and 
fragmentary  to  be  of  any  value  to  them.  They  fear 
that  they  will  be  interrupted  before  they  have  done 
anything  to  the  purpose,  and  so  they  do  nothing.  No 
one  can  make  the  most  of  life  who  has  never  learned 
the  supreme  value  of  moments.  The  half  hour  be- 
fore breakfast,  the  fifteen  minutes  waiting  for  din- 
ner, diligently  given  to  the  book  one  wishes  to  read, 
will  finish  it  in  a  few  days,  and  make  room  for 
another.  It  is  almost  literally  true,  paradoxical  as  it 
may  seem,  that  the  more  you  have  to  do,  the  more 
you  can  do.  The  idle  person  never  knows  how  to 
get  ahead  of  his  work  ;  the  busy  one  always  knows 
how.  System  and  a  strong  purpose  will  work  mira- 
cles; will  go  far  toward  achieving  the  impossible. 
The  busiest  men  I  have  known  have  frequently  been 
the  best  informed  and  the  widest  readers. 

Let  us  suppose  that  you  are  determined  to  secure 
two  hours  every  day  for  self-culture;  that  is  equiva- 
lent to  more  than  seven  hundred  hours  a  year — or  to 
three  entire  months  of  working  time  of  eight  hours 
a  day.  What  could  you  not  do  in  three  months,  if 
you  had  all  the  time  to  yourself?  You  could  almost 
learn  a  new  language,  or  go  far  toward  writing  a 
book,  if  need  were;  and  yet  this  two  hours   a  day, 


THE    DEDICATION.  65 

which  would  secure  you  three  months  of  free  time 
every  year,  is  frittered  away,  you  hardly  know  how, 
in  aimless  matters,  that  lead  to  nothing. 

A  famous  writer,  some  of  whose  books  we  have 
all  read,  Bulwer-Lytton,  devoted  only  four  hours  a 
day  to  writing;  yet  he  produced  more  than  sixty  vol- 
umes of  history,  poetry,  drama,  and  fiction,  of  singu- 
lar literary  merit.  The  great  naturalist  Darwin,  a 
chronic  sufferer  from  a  depressing  malady,  counted 
two  hours  a  good  day's  work;  yet  he  produced  results 
in  the  world  of  science  which  have  made  his  name  im- 
mortal. Be  not  over  particular  as  to  hours,  or  the 
time  of  day,  but  seize  the  unoccupied  intervals  and 
you  will  soon  find  that  all  hours  are  good  for  the 
muse.  Have  a  purpose,  and  adhere  to  it  with  good- 
humored  pertinacity.  Be  independent  of  the  meth- 
ods and  opinions  of  others.  The  world  of  books,  like 
the  world  of  nature,  was  made  for  you ;  possess  it  in 
your  own  way.  If  you  see  no  good  in  ancient  history, 
or  metaphysics,  let  them  alone,  and  read  books  of 
art,  or  biography,  or  poetry,  or  travel.  The  world  of 
letters  is  so  related,  that  all  roads  cross  and  con- 
verge, like  the  paths  that  carry  us  over  the  surface 
of  the  globe  on  which  we  live.  Many  a  reader  has 
learned  more  of  past  ages  from  biographies  than 
from  any  formal  history,  and  it  is  a  fact  that  many 
owe  to  the  plays  of  Shakespeare  nearly  all  the 
knowledge  they  possess  of  the  history  of  England. 

I  look  with  some  distrust  upon  many  of  the  so- 
called  ''  courses  of  reading."  A  great  amount  of  time 
has  been  consumed  in  trying  to  compel  the  attention 
to  reading  through  long  and  prosy  didactic  works  writ- 


66  STATE    LIBRARY   BUILDING. 

ten  in  a  style  the  reverse  of  attractive,  but  believed  to 
be  packed  full  of  learning.  These  courses,  under- 
taken as  a  task,  frequently  break  down  before  much 
progress  has  been  made,  thus  ending  in  discourage- 
ment as  well  as  disappointment ;  whereas,  if  a  good 
book  had  been  selected,  written  in  a  fresh  and 
flowing  style,  and  treating  any  topic  whatever  with 
adequate  knowledge,  it  would  have  been  eagerly 
read  and  assimilated.  Time  should  be  economized 
by  selecting  attractive  intellectual  pabulum — books 
which  are  known  from  the  start  to  be  full  of  good 
things — capable  of  nourishing  the  inner  man,  and, 
like  a  well-cooked  and  well-seasoned  dish,  both 
appetizing  to  the  palate  and  comforting  to  the  soul. 

Suffer  no  man's  prescription  for  a  weak  or 
deformed  intellect  to  sway  your  choice,  if  you  are 
conscious  of  your  own  mental  strength  and  sound- 
ness. When  you  are  weary  or  perplexed,  who  shall 
deny  you  the  recreation  of  a  chapter  of  Pickwick,  or 
what  Doctor  Dry-as-dust  shall  compel  you  to  read 
David  Hume  or  Adam  Smith,  when  you  crave  Ten- 
nyson or  the  Faust  of  Goethe  ? 

It  is  unhappily  true  that  books  do  not  teach  the  use 
of  books.  It  were  easier,  perhaps,  in  one  sense,  to 
tell  what  not  to  read,  than  to  recommend  what 
is  best  worth  reading.  In  the  publishing  world, 
this  is  the  age  of  compilation — not  of  creation.  If 
we  seek  for  great  original  works,  if  we  must  indeed 
go  to  the  wholesale  merchants  to  buy  knowledge, 
since  retail  geniuses  are  worth  but  little,  one  must  go 
back  many  years  for  his  main  selection  of  books.  It 
would  not  be  a  bad  rule,  perhaps,  for  those  who  can 


THE   DEDICATION.  67 

read  but  little,  to  read  no  book  until  it  has  been 
published  at  least  a  year  or  two.  This  fever  for  the 
newest  books  is  not  a  wholesome  condition  of  the 
mind.  And  since  a  selection  must  indispensably  be 
made,  and  that  selection  must,  for  the  mass  of  readers, 
be  so  rigid  and  so  small,  why  should  valuable  time  be 
thrown  away  upon  the  untried  and  unproven  writers 
of  the  day  ? 

As  the  taste  for  reading  is  one  of  the  greatest 
of  human  benefits,  so  the  art  of  reading  to  the  best 
advantage  is  one  of  the  foremost  things  to  be  desired. 
One  hears  with  dismay  that  the  statistics  of  our 
popular  libraries  prove  that  about  seventy-five  per 
cent,  of  the  books  drawn  from  them  are  novels. 
While  such  aimless  reading  to  be  amused  is  doubtless 
better  than  no  reading  at  all,  it  is  nevertheless  true 
that  over-much  reading  of  romances,  especially  at  an 
early  age,  enervates  the  mind,  weakens  the  will, 
makes  dreamers  instead  of  thinkers  and  workers, 
and  fills  the  imagination  with  morbid  and  unreal  views 
of  life.  Yet  this  habit  of  giving  up  all  leisure  hours 
to  fiction  is  cultivated,  more  by  the  cheapness  and 
notoriety  of  such  works,  and  the  absence  of  wise 
direction  in  other  fields,  than  by  any  native  tendency 
on  the  part  of  the  young.  People  will  always  read 
the  most  that  which  is  most  put  before  them,  if  only 
the  style  be  attractive. 

A  two-fold  evil  follows  upon  the  reading  of  every 
unworthy  book;  in  the  first  place,  it  absorbs  the  time 
which  should  be  bestowed  upon  a  worthy  one  ;  and 
secondly,  it  leaves  the  mind  and  heart  unimproved, 
instead  of  conducing  to  the  benefit  of  both.     As  there 


68  STATE    LIBRARY    BUILDING. 

are  few  books  more  elevating  than  a  really  good 
novel,  so  there  are  none  more  fruitful  of  evil  than  a 
bad  one. 

Hazlitt  says,  '*  we  owe  everything  to  the  authors 
of  books,  on  this  side  barbarism."  He  who  enters  a 
great  library  walks  among  the  silent  ranks  of  the 
thinkers  of  all  ages.  However  dull  or  vapid  he  may 
sometimes  find  the  society  of  people,  that  of  a  well- 
selected  library  is  never  dull.  In  the  world  of  books, 
your  chosen  companions  will  talk  to  you  only  when 
bidden,  and  whenever  you  hold  converse  with  them, 
they  always  have  something  to  say.  The  appreciative 
reader  is  never  less  alone  than  when  alone.  Sur- 
rounded by  the  spirits  of  the  mighty  dead,  still 
surviving  immortally  in  their  works,  while  their  mortal 
bodies  are  but  dust,  he  drinks  in  the  inspiration  and 
the  instruction  that  dwell  among  the  leaves.  His 
horizon  insensibly  widens  as  he  reads,  and  from  being 
a  resident  of  Boston,  or  of  Baltimore,  or  of  Washing- 
ton, he  becomes  a  citizen  of  the  world. 

The  reader  who  has  held  communion  with  many 
great  writers  will  find  his  views  correspondingly 
enlarged,  and  his  mental  vision  cleared.  The  be- 
setting conceit  of  opinion,  the  ignoble  strife  of  warring 
sects  and  schools,  are  seen  in  their  true  light.  He  has 
read  to  little  purpose  who  has  not  imbibed  a  charity 
as  wide  as  the  world,  and  an  open-mindedness  that 
is  fatal  to  the  slightest  taint  of  bigotry.  Much  con- 
verse with  books  fills  him  with  a  sense  of  his  own 
ignorance.  The  more  he  comes  to  know,  the  wider 
opens  before  him  the  illimitable  realm  of  what  is  yet 
to  be  known.     In  the  lowest  deep  which  research  the 


THE    DEDICATION.  69 

most  profound  can  reach,  there  is  a  lower  deep  still 
unattained, — perhaps,  even,  unattainable. 

But  the  fact  that  he  cannot  by  any  possibility  master 
all  human  knowledge  should  not  deter  the  student 
from  making  ever  advancing  inroads  upon  that 
domain.  The  vast  extent  of  the  world  of  books  only 
emphasizes  the  need  of  making  a  wise  selection  from 
the  mass.  One  of  the  commonest  and  most  incon- 
siderate of  the  questions  propounded  to  a  librarian  is 
this  :  ''  Do  you  ever  expect  to  read  all  these  books 
through  "  ?  And  it  is  well  answered  by  propounding 
another  query — namely  :  *'  Did  you  ever  read  your 
dictionary  through  "  ?  A  great  library  is  the  scholar's 
dictionary — not  to  be  read  through,  but  to  be  able  to 
put  his  finger  on  the  fact  or  the  thought  he  wants, 
just  when  it  is  wanted. 

He  must  indispensably  learn  the  art  of  skipping, — 
not  only  of  skipping  all  the  useless  books  (whose 
name  is  legion)  but  all  the  useless  pages  in  which 
every  book,  almost,  abounds.  This  art  requires  three 
things  :  Keen  discernment,  a  practiced  eye,  and  a 
resolute  purpose  to  make  the  best  use  of  time.  As 
to  the  selection,  while  I  am  not  of  those  who  can  see 
no  merit  save  in  books  touched  with  the  hoar  frost  of 
time,  I  have  yet  frequent  cause  to  lament  the  pre- 
valent rage  for  new  books,  when  so  many  great 
masters  lie  unopened  and  unread.  Schopenhauer 
tells  us  of  the  paramount  importance  of  "acquiring 
the  art  not  to  read,  or  of  not  reading  the  books  that 
occupy  the  public  mind,  make  a  noise  in  the  world, 
and  reach  several  editions  in  their  first  (and  perhaps 
last)  year  of  existence."    Indeed  there  is  of  late,  along 


70  STATE    LIBRARY   BUILDING. 

with  much  good  literature,  a  fearfully  increasing 
number  of  books  that  are  not  useful.  The  spawn  of 
cheap  novels  of  second  and  third  rate  writers,  the 
translations  of  Zola,  Belot,  Du  Boisgobey,  and  others 
of  the  French  erotic  school,  and  their  American 
imitators,  some  of  whom  surpass  them  in  grossness, 
without  any  of  their  attractions  of  style,  must  be 
deplored  by  all  who  regard  the  moral  and  intellectual 
welfare  of  our  people.  Such  publications  degrade 
our  literature,  instead  of  ennobling  and  advancing  it. 
Defend  them  as  men  may,  with  whatever  glozing 
excuses,  the  books  which  belong  to  the  lately  preva- 
lent bigamy  school  of  fiction  are  not  fit  to  be  written, 
and  not  fit  to  be  read.  "  The  trail  of  the  serpent  is 
over  them  all."  Let  all  friends  of  good  literature,  and 
all  teachers  and  counsellors  of  the  young,  never  cease 
to  remember,  that  "  the  wisdom  that  is  from  above  is 
first  pure." 

Another  class  of  new  literature  is  the  sensational, 
which  tends  to  vitiate  the  taste,  as  surely  as  the 
other  does  the  morals.  Why  should  one  read  such 
specimens  of  prose-run-mad  as  the  novels  of  Augus- 
ta Evans,  or  Am^lie  Rives,  such  examples  of  morbid 
intellectual  anatomy  as  the  journal  of  Marie  Bashkirt- 
seff,  or  such  pictures  of  over-wrought  passion  and 
vicious  life  as  the  stories  of  Edgar  Saltus  ?  These 
books,  and  others  referred  to,  that  tickle  the  palate 
for  an  hour,  and  perhaps  leave  a  bad  taste  in  the 
mouth,  are  good  books  to  let  alone.  They  have  no 
staying  qualities.  Why  waste  the  precious  hours, 
which  you  will  never  see  again,  over  things  fit  only 
to  be  forgotten,  when  the  great  masters  of  prose  and 


THE    DEDICATION.  7 1 

verse  are  waiting  to  endow  you  with  imperishable 
wit  and  wisdom  ? 

Yet  some  readers  will  eagerly  devour  every  novel 
of  Miss  Braddon,  or  ''The  Duchess,"  or  the  woman 
calling  herself  *'Ouida,"  but  they  cannot  appreciate 
the  masterly  fictions  of  Thackeray.  I  have  known 
very  good  people  who  could  not,  for  the  life  of  them, 
find  any  humor  in  Dickens,  but  who  actually  en- 
joyed the  forced  wit  of  Mrs.  Partington  and  Bill  Nye. 
And  you  will  find  many  a  young  lady  of  to-day  who 
is  content  to  remain  ignorant  of  Homer  and  Shakes- 
peare, but  who  is  ravished  by  the  charms  of  Trilby 
or  the  Heavenly  Twins.  But  taste  in  literature,  as 
in  art,  or  in  anything  else,  can  be  cultivated.  Lay 
down  the  rule,  and  adhere  to  it,  to  read  none  but 
the  best  books,  and  you  will  before  long  lose  all  rel- 
ish for  the  poor  ones.  Surely  we  all  have  cause  to 
deprecate  the  remorseless  flood  of  fictitious  literature, 
in  which  better  books  are  drowned. 

Let  no  one  be  dismayed  at  the  multitude  of  books, 
nor  fear  that  with  his  small  leisure,  he  will  never  be 
able  to  master  any  appreciable  share  of  them.  Few 
and  far  between  are  the  great  books  of  the  world. 
The  works  which  it  is  necessary  to  know  may  be 
comprised  in  a  comparatively  small  compass.  The 
rest  are  to  be  preserved  in  the  great  literary  conserv- 
atories, some  as  records  of  the  past,  some  as  chroni- 
cles of  the  times,  and  not  a  few  as  models  to  be 
avoided.  The  Congressional  Library  at  Washington 
(soon  to  have  its  own  separate  library  building)  is 
our  great  national  conservatory  of  books.  As  the 
library  of  the  government — that  is  of  the  whole  peo- 


72  STATE    LIBRARY    BUILDING. 

pie — it  is  properly  inclusive  of  all  the  literature  which 
the  country  produces,  while  all  the  other  libraries 
are  and  must  be  more  or  less  exclusive.  No  national 
library  can  ever  be  too  large.  In  order  that  the 
completeness  of  the  collection  shall  not  fail,  and  to 
preserve  the  whole  of  our  literature,  it  is  put  into  the 
statute  of  copyright  as  a  condition  precedent  of  the 
exclusive  right  to  multiply  copies  of  any  book.  Ap- 
prehension is  sometimes  expressed  that  the  library 
of  the  United  States  will  become  overloaded  with 
trash,  and  so  fail  of  its  usefulness.  'Tis  a  lost  fear. 
The  public  sense  is  continually  winnowing  and  sift- 
ing the  literature  of  every  period,  and  to  books  and 
their  authors,  every  day  is  the  day  of  judgment. 

Out  of  all  the  publications  of  any  year,  how  many, 
think  you,  ever  arrive  at  the  honor  of  a  republication 
at  all  ?  How  many  are  thought  worthy  of  a  reprint 
by  the  readers  of  the  generation  immediately  suc- 
ceeding ?  And  will  any  one  learned  in  the  history 
of  literature  tell  us  how  many,  out  of  the  innumer- 
able candidates  for  immortality,  ever  reach  it,  by  the 
suffrage  of  each  successive  century,  calling  for  con- 
tinually new  editions  ?  Is  not  the  fate  of  at  least 
ninety-nine  in  the  hundred  writers,  a  swift  passport 
to  oblivion  or  (which  is  much  the  same  thing)  a 
place  among  the  myriads  of  forgotten  volumes  which 
slumber  on  the  shelves  of  the  great  libraries  of  the 
world  ? 

It  is  the  melancholy  fate  of  most  writers  to  survive 
their  own  literary  reputation.  Not  the  least  among 
the  evils  of  that  ''furor  scribendi''  that  rage  for  writ- 
ing which  afflicts  so  large  a  portion  of  the  human 


THE    DEDICATION.  73 

race,  is  the  utter  unconsciousness  of  its  subjects  as 
to  the  worthless  or  ephemeral  character  of  their  pro- 
ductions. A  moderate  acquaintance  with  the  litera- 
ture of  the  past  would  spare  these  unsophisticated 
authors  the  trouble  of  putting  pen  to  paper.  The  dis- 
covery that  what  they  are  so  eager  to  say  has  not 
only  been  said  before,  but  a  great  deal  better  said 
than  they  can  say  it,  might  save  them  the  mortifica- 
tion of  publishing  a  neglected  volume. 

That  learned  French  critic,  Bishop  Huet,  was  wont 
to  say  that  all  which  has  been  written  since  the 
beginning  of  the  world  might  easily  be  contained 
in  nine  or  ten  volumes  in  folio,  provided  nothing 
were  said  more  than  once.  This  little  proviso  is  the 
key  to  that  vast  copia  librorum  under  which  we 
groan.  So  long  as  men  go  on  repeating  one 
another,  so  long  will  this  redundancy  of  literature, 
which  makes  the  despair  of  students,  continue.  All 
the  ancient  classics,  both  Greek  and  Latin,  may  be 
readily  contained  in  a  single  glass  case  of  very  mod- 
erate dimensions  ;  but  the  million-fold  echoes  and 
re-echoes  of  the  ancients  which  fill  these  twenty  cen- 
turies— is  there  any  library,  however  vast,  which  will 
hold  the  half  of  them  ? 

Yet  the  world  of  books,  vast  and  thickly  peopled 
as  it  is,  presents  no  anomaly,  no  exception  to  the  laws 
which  govern  the  genesis  of  nature  and  the  growth 
of  nations.  Everywhere  the  chaff  far  exceeds  the 
wheat.  For  a  hundred  blossoms,  we  gather  but  one 
ripe  fruit.  This  ever-growing  human  race  of  ours 
goes  swarming  on,  and  how  many,  out  of  all  the 
myriads  that  are  born  into  the  world,  leave  any  mark 


74  STATE    LIBRARY   BUILDING. 

of  greatness  or  of  goodness  to  testify  that  they  ever 
lived  at  all  ?  Shall  the  world  of  books  be  expected 
to  form  the  sole  exception  ? 

Shall  we  not  rather  use  the  brain  that  nature  gave 
us  to  make  a  wise  choice  of  our  intellectual  com- 
panions? And  here,  let  me  say,  no  hard-and-fast 
rule  can  be  laid  down,  good  for  all  readers.  While 
the  world  of  books  seems  literally  infinite,  and  we 
are  ever  conscious  that  our  opportunities  are  finite, 
we  may  at  least  resolve  to  waste  little  time  upon 
writers  who  have  not  proven  their  claim  to  live  in 
literature.  Find  out  how  often  any  author's  books 
have  been  re-printed,  in  successive  generations,  and 
you  will  have  one  standard  of  merit  to  which  the 
merely  ephemeral  writers  cannot  appeal.  The  sense 
of  the  world  is  keen,  and  the  survival  of  the  fittest  is 
as  certain  as  that  art  is  long. 

Next,  there  is  no  guide  to  that  reading,  which  will 
both  interest  and  profit  the  reader,  better  than  the 
counsel  embodied  in  these  two  lines  of  Shakespeare  : 

•'  No  profit  grows  where  is  no  pleasure  ta'en ; 
In  brief,  sir,  study  what  you  most  affect." 

If  this  precept  seems  too  free,  it  is  to  be  borne  in 
mind  that  a  book,  in  order  to  be  relished  and  remem- 
bered, must  have  some  pleasing  qualities  to  the 
reader.  Books  that  are  read  merely  as  task-work 
profit  little,  in  comparison  with  those  which  are 
absorbed  eagerly,  and  with  a  hungry  mind.  Now 
the  best  books  of  the  world  are  the  histories,  the 
poems,  and  the  stories  which  are  the  best  told, — and 
which  will  never  want  for   readers,  so  long  as  the 


THE    DEDICATION.  75 

generations  of  men  shall  endure.  The  taste  for  the 
best  literature  will  be  formed  fast  enough,  if  only  the 
best  be  made  as  accessible  as  is  the  trash. 

When  Shakespeare  would  depict  for  us  the  sov- 
ereign value  of  the  intelligence  which  dwells  in  the 
world  of  books,  he  says  :  "  Ignorance  is  the  curse  of 
God :  Knowledge  the  wing  wherewith  we  fly  to 
Heaven."  And  elsewhere,  when  he  would  describe 
in  few  words  a  man  deficient  in  understanding — he 
says  :  **  Sir,  He  hath  never  fed  of  the  dainties  which 
are  bred  in  a  book."  Gibbon  declared — '*A  taste 
for  books  is  the  pleasure  and  glory  of  my  life  : — I 
would  not  exchange  it  for  the  wealth  of  the  Indies."^ 
And  we  remember  the  lofty  panegyric  of  Words- 
worth's sonnet : 

«♦  Blessings  be  with  them,  and  eternal  praise, 
Who  gave  us  nobler  loves  and  nobler  cares ; 
The  Poets,  who  on  earth  have  made  us  heirs 
Of  truth  and  pure  delight  by  heavenly  lays." 

In  the  companionship  of  books  we  move  across 
the  centuries,  and  mingle  with  every  race  and  every 
age.  They  bring  us  acquainted  with  the  fair  forms 
of  truth  and  poetry,  and  reveal  to  us  the  genius  and 
the  virtue  that  have  illustrated  the  annals  of  man- 
kind. Good  books  are  among  the  few  real  things  of 
life  :  they  are  almost  the  only  pleasure  in  which  there 
is  no  alloy.  ''Some  books,"  says  Petrarch,  ''teach 
us  how  to  live,  and  others  how  to  die."  Through 
them,  the  spirits  of  the  dead,  not  mortal,  but  immor- 
tal, hold  free  converse  with  us.  Through  them, 
each  one  of  us  may  become  endowed  with  the  storied 
wisdom  of  six  thousand  years.     The  world  of  books 


76  STATE    LIBRARY   BUILDING. 

is  a  realm  as  large  as  the  universe,  and  its  noblest 
creations  take  hold  on  the  infinite.  They  open  to 
us  inexhaustible  treasures  of  learning :  they  awaken 
the  reason,  they  kindle  the  imagination,  they  culti- 
vate the  memory,  they  refine  the  taste,  they  delight 
us  in  health,  they  comfort  us  in  sickness,  they 
enliven  the  fancy,  they  quicken  the  conscience,  they 
purify  the  soul;  they  cheer  the  desponding,  they 
strengthen  the  weak,  they  lighten  our  cares,  they 
soften  our  griefs,  they  enhance  our  joys — they  ener- 
gize and  ennoble  the  mind.  They,  and  they  alone, 
hold  that  which  is  imperishable  in  man  ;  that  which 
survives  centuries,  conquers  oblivion,  and  triumphs 
over  the  grave. 


APPENDIX. 


JOINT  RESOLUTION  authorizing  the  governor  and  council  to  procure  plans 
and  estimates  for  additions  to  the  state  house. 

Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  in  General  Court  con- 
vened : 

That  the  governor  and  council  are  hereby  authorized  to  expend  a  sum  of 
money  not  exceeding  five  hundred  dollars,  to  be  used  in  procuring  plans  and 
estimates  for  additional  facilities  in  the  state  house  for  library  and  other  pur- 
poses, and  also  plans  and  estimates  for  a  separate  building  to  be  used  for  the 
same  purposes,  and  submit  their  report  to  the  next  legislature. 

That  the  governor  is  hereby  authorized  to  draw  his  warrant  for  the  same  out 
of  any  money  in  the  treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated. 

Approved  August  16, 1889. 


AN  ACT  for  the  erection  of  a  state  library  building. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  in  General  Court  con- 
vened : 

Section  1.  That  the  sum  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  dollars 
be  and  hereby  is  raised  and  appropriated  for  the  purchase  of  two  tracts  of 
land  situate  on  the  corner  of  State  and  Park  streets  in  Concord,  and  the  erec- 
tion of  a  building  thereon,  in  accordance  with  the  plan  of  A.  P.  Cutting,  of 
Worcester,  Mass.,  referred  to  in  and  annexed  to  the  report  of  the  commission 
appointed  to  procure  plans  and  estimates  for  additional  facilities  for  the  pub- 
lic library,  and  other  purposes. 

Sect.  2.  The  state  treasurer  is  hereby  authorized,  under  the  direction  of  the 
governor  and  council  to  borrow  said  sum  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-five 
thousand  dollars  on  the  credit  of  the  state  ;  and  to  issue  bonds  or  certificates 
of  indebtedness  therefor,  in  the  name  and  on  the  behalf  of  the  state,  payable 
in  twenty  years  from  the  first  day  of  July,  1891,  at  a  rate  of  interest  not  exceed- 
ing four  per  cent,  per  annum,  payable  semi-annually  on  the  first  days  of  Janu- 
ary and  July  of  each  year  ;  such  bonds  to  have  interest  warrants  or  coupons 
attached  thereto ;  said  coupons  to  be  signed  by  the  state  treasurer ;  said 
bonds  and  coupons  to  be  made  payable  at  such  place  as  the  governor  and 
council  shall  designate. 

Sect.  3.  Said  bonds  shall  be  designated,  "  State  Library  Bonds,"  and  shall  be 
signed  by  the  treasurer  and  countersigned  by  the  governor,  and  shall  be 
deemed  a  pledge  of  the  faith  and  credit  of  the  state.  The  secretary  of  state 
shall  keep  a  record  of  all  the  bonds  countersigned  by  the  governor,  showing 
the  number  and  amount  of  each  bond,  the  time  of  countersigning,  the  time 
when  payable,  and  the  date  of  the  delivery  to  the  state  treasurer.  The  treas- 
urer shall  keep  a  record  of  all  bonds  disposed  of  by  him,  showing  the  number 
thereof,  the  name  of  the  person  to  whom  sold,  the  amount  received  for  the 
same,  the  date  of  the  sale  and  the  time  when  payable.  The  treasurer  may 
negotiate  and  sell  such  bonds  to  the  best  advantage  for  the  state,  but  no  bond 
shall  be  sold  for  less  than  its  par  value,  nor  shall  such  bonds  be  loaned, 
pledged,  or  hypothecated  in  any  way  whatever. 


78 


STATE    LIBRARY   BUILDING. 


Sect.  4.  That  His  Excellency  the  Governor,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of 
the  council,  be  authorized  to  appoint  four  commissioners,  only  two  of  whom 
shall  belong  to  the  same  political  party,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  make  all  con- 
tracts necessary  for  the  erection,  building,  and  completion  of  said  state  library 
building  upon  the  plot  of  ground  named  in  section  1  of  this  act,  and  in  accord- 
ance with  said  plan  to  procure  all  necessary  specifications  for  the  full  comple- 
tion of  said  building  under  said  plan.  No  contract  by  them  made  shall  be  of 
any  binding  force  until  first  submitted  to  and  approved  by  the  governor  and 
council,  nor  shall  such  contract  be  made  until  they  have  advertised  for  at  least 
thirty  days  in  not  less  than  three  papers  in  this  state  for  sealed  proposals 
under  said  plan  and  specifications  for  the  entire  construction  of  said  building 
in  one  contract,  or  in  several  contracts  for  the  different  classes  of  work  to  be 
done,  and  such  contract  or  contracts  shall  be  made  with  the  lowest  responsible 
bidders  complying  with  the  terms  of  this  act  in  relation  to  the  amount  of  bonds 
required  to  guarantee  the  completion  of  said  contract ;  and  it  shall  be  the  fur- 
ther duty  of  said  commissioners  to  superintend  the  erection,  building,  and 
completion  of  said  library  building,  and  they  shall  receive  for  their  services 
each  the  sum  of  three  dollars  per  day  when  employed  and  their  expenses,  and 
their  bills  shall  be  approved  by  the  governor  and  council ;  and  the  governor 
shall  draw  his  orders  upon  the  state  treasurer  for  the  amounts  due  from  time 
to  time  upon  said  bills,  and  the  treasurer  shall  pay  the  same  out  of  any 
money  provided  for  in  this  act.  Said  commissioners,  or  either  of  them,  may 
be  removed  at  any  time  by  the  governor  and  council. 

Sect.  5.  Said  commissioners  shall  have  power  and  authority  to  purchase  for 
and  on  behalf  of  the  state  the  land  recommended  by  the  commission  and 
named  in  section  1  of  this  act,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  governor  and 
council. 

Sect.  6.  In  case  said  commissioners  shall  be  unable  to  purchase  such  land  for 
the  state  at  a  price  which  they  deem  reasonable,  they  are  hereby  fully  author- 
ized and  empowered  to  take  and  appropriate  the  same  for  the  use  of  the  state, 
for  the  purpose  aforesaid  ;  and  if  such  land  is  so  taken  and  appropriated  for 
the  use  of  the  state,  said  commissioners  shall  apply  to  the  county  commission- 
ers for  the  county  of  Merrimack  to  assess  the  damages  to  the  owner  or  owners 
of  such  land,  and  said  county  commissioners,  upon  reasonable  notice  to  all 
persons  interested  and  a  hearing  thereon,  shall  assess  and  award  damages  to 
the  owner  or  owners  of  such  land,  for  so  much  land  as  the  commissioners 
hereby  appointed  shall  designate  as  necessary  and  convenient  for  the  pur- 
poses aforesaid.  Said  assessment  and  award  of  the  county  commissioners 
shall  be  in  writing,  and  filed  in  the  office  of  the  city  clerk  of  said  Concord 
within  ten  days  after  the  same  is  completed,  which  shall  contain  a  particular 
description  by  metes  and  bounds  of  the  land  so  taken,  as  well  as  of  the  dam- 
ages and  the  persons  to  whom  the  same  is  awarded.  And  upon  payment  or 
tender  to  the  owner  or  owners  of  the  land  of  the  sums  so  assessed,  the  title  to 
the  land  so  taken  shall  be  vested  in  the  state. 

Sect.  7.  Such  land-owner,  or  other  party  interested,  shall  have  the  right  to 
appeal  from  said  assessment  and  award  to  the  supreme  court  in  said  county  of 
Merrimack,  and  to  an  assessment  of  said  damages  by  a  jury  on  such  appeal,  by 
filing  in  the  office  of  the  clerk  of  said  court  a  petition  in  proper  form  for  that 
purpose,  within  sixty  days  after  the  filing  of  said  assessment  and  award  of 
said  county  commissioners  in  the  office  of  the  city  clerk  as  aforesaid. 

Sect.  8.  The  governor  shall  draw  his  orders  on  the  state  treasurer  for  the 
amounts  that  may  be  or  become  due  from  time  to  time,  under  the  contracts  of 
the  commissioners  hereby  appointed,  for  the  purposes  aforesaid,  after  said 
bills  shall  have  been  duly  approved  by  the  governor  and  council,  to  an  amount 
not  exceeding  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  dollars. 

Approved  March  12, 1891. 


APPENDIX.  79 


AN  ACT  in  addition  and  supplemental  to  chapter  13  of  the  Laws  of  1891,  enti- 
tled "An  act  for  the  erection  of  a  state  library  building." 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  in  General  Court  con- 
vened. 

Section  1.  That  the  sum  of  seventy-five  thousand  dollars  be  and  the  same  is 
hereby  appropriated  for  the  purpose  of  completing  and  furnishing  the  state 
library  building  and  the  grounds  about  the  same,  to  be  expended  under  the 
direction  of  the  commission  appointed  in  pursuance  of  section  4  of  chapter  13, 
Laws  of  1891,  entitled  an  "An  act  for  the  Erection  of  a  State  Library  Build- 
ing," and  in  accordance  with  said  act. 

Sect.  2.  The  state  treasurer  is  hereby  authorized,  under  the  direction  of  the 
governor  and  council,  to  borrow  the  sum  of  seventy -five  thousand  dollars  on 
the  credit  of  the  state  ;  and  to  issue  bonds  or  certificates  of  indebtedness 
therefor,  in  the  name  and  on  the  behalf  of  the  state,  payable  in  twenty  years 
from  the  first  day  of  July,  1893,  at  a  rate  of  interest  not  exceeding  four  per 
cent,  per  annum,  payable  semi-annually  on  the  first  days  of  January  and  July 
of  each  year ;  such  bonds  to  have  interest  warrants  or  coupons  attached 
thereto  ;  said  coupons  to  be  signed  by  the  state  treasurer ;  said  bonds  and 
coupons  to  be  made  payable  at  such  place  as  the  governor  and  council  shall 
designate. 

Sect.  3.  Said  bonds  shall  be  designated  "  State  Library  Bonds,"  and  shall  be 
signed  by  the  treasurer  and  countersigned  by  the  governor,  and  shall  be 
deemed  a  pledge  of  the  faith  and  credit  of  the  state.  The  secretary  of  state 
shall  keep  a  record  of  all  the  bonds  countersigned  by  the  governor,  showing 
the  number  and  amount  of  each  bond,  the  time  of  countersigning,  the  time 
when  payable,  and  the  date  of  the  delivery  to  the  state  treasurer.  The  treas- 
urer shall  keep  a  record  of  all  bonds  disposed  of  by  him,  showing  the  number 
thereof,  the  name  of  the  person  to  whom  sold,  the  amount  received  for  the 
same,  the  date  of  the  sale,  and  the  time  when  payable.  The  treasurer  may 
negotiate  and  sell  such  bonds  to  the  best  advantage  for  the  state,  but  no  bond 
shall  be  sold  for  less  than  its  par  value,  nor  shall  such  bonds  be  loaned, 
pledged,  or  hypothecated  in  any  way  whatever. 

Sect.  4.  All  premiums  realized  from  the  sale  of  the  state  library  bonds,  issued 
under  and  by  virtue  of  chapter  13,  Laws  of  1891,  and  under  this  act,  are  hereby 
appropriated  for  the  uses  set  forth  in  section  1  of  this  act,  and  to  be  expended 
by  said  commissioners  agreeably  to  this  act,  and  said  act  of  1891. 

Sect.  5.  The  governor  shall  draw  his  orders  on  the  state  treasurer  for  the 
amounts  that  may  be  or  become  due  from  time  to  time,  under  the  contracts  of 
said  commissioners,  for  the  purposes  aforesaid,  after  said  bills  shall  have  been 
duly  approved  by  the  governor  and  council,  to  an  amount  not  exceeding  the 
several  sums  appropriated  by  this  act,  and  said  chapter  13,  Laws  of  1891. 

Sect.  6.  This  act  is  in  addition  and  supplemental  to  chapter  13,  Laws  of  1891. 

Approved  February  14, 1893. 

AN  ACT  in  amendment  of  chapter  8  of  the  Public  Statutes,  and  chapter  31  of 
the  Laws  of  1893,  relating  to  the  state  library. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  in  General  Court  con- 
vened. 

Section  1.  Section  8  of  chapter  8  of  the  Public  Statutes  is  hereby  amended  so 
as  to  read  as  follows  :  "  Sect.  8.  They  may  dispose,  by  sale  or  exchange,  of  all 
or  any  part  of  the  surplus  state  publications,  which  have  been  from  time  to 
time  deposited  in  the  state  library  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  the  state, 
and  of  such  other  books,  pamphlets,  charts,  documents,  or  duplicates  thereof, 
as  they  deem  unnecessary  for  the  uses  of  the  library." 


8o  STATE    LIBRARY   BUILDING. 


Sect.  2.  Section  16  of  chapter  8  of  the  Public  Statutes  is  hereby  amended  to 
read  as  follows  :  "  Sect.  16.  The  governor,  councillors,  members,  and  clerks  of 
the  legislature,  during  sessions,  state  officials,  the  judges  of  the  supreme 
court,  and  such  other  persons  as  the  trustees  shall  designate,  may  take  books, 
maps,  charts,  and  other  documents  from  the  library,  subject  to  such  rules  and 
regulations  as  the  trustees  shall  prescribe." 

Sect.  3.  Section  18  of  chapter  8  of  the  Public  Statutes  is  hereby  amended  by 
inserting  after  the  word  '*  studies,"  in  the  last  line  thereof,  the  words  •'  and  all 
other  printed  matter  of  the  institution."  So  that  said  section  shall  read  as  fol- 
lows :  "Sect.  18.  The  principal  of  each  college,  academy,  seminary,  or  other 
institution  of  learning,  incorporated  by  the  laws  of  this  state,  shall  annually 
and  before  the  first  day  of  November  of  each  year,  forward  to  the  state  libra- 
rian for  the  state  library  two  copies,  and  to  the  New  Hampshire  Historical 
Society  two  copies,  of  each  printed  catalogue  of  its  officers  and  students  and 
courses  of  study,  and  all  other  printed  matter  of  the  institution  published  dur- 
ing the  year  ending  on  that  date." 

Sect.  4.  Section  6  of  chapter  31  of  the  Laws  of  1893  is  hereby  amended  so  as 
to  read  as  follows  :  "  Sect.  6.  The  public  printer  shall  give  the  state  librarian 
seasonable  notice  of  every  state  or  department  publication  that  is  delivered  to 
him  to  be  printed,  and  of  the  time  that  same  will  go  to  press.  Upon  receipt 
of  such  notice  the  state  librarian  shall  notify  the  secretary  of  state  of  the  num- 
ber of  additional  copies  of  every  such  publication  that  will  be  required  for  sale 
or  exchange  for  the  benefit  of  the  state  library,  and  thereupon  the  secretary  of 
state  shall  cause  such  number  of  copies  to  be  printed,  bound,  and  delivered  to 
the  state  librarian,  in  addition  to  the  number  of  copies  otherwise  required  to 
be  printed  by  law ;  provided,  however,  that  such  requisition  shall  be  made 
while  the  work  may  be  done  without  extra  expense  on  account  of  composition» 
and  provided  that  the  several  state  departments  shall  not  receive  a  less  num- 
ber of  copies  for  the  official  distribution  than  is  now  authorized  by  law." 

Sect.  5.  The  residue  of  all  state  or  department  publications  remaining  in  the 
hands  of  the  secretary  of  state  after  distribution  by  him  as  required  by  law, 
shall  be  forthwith  deposited  in  the  state  library,  to  be  disposed  of  as  required 
by  law. 

Sect.  6.  Foreign  corporations  doing  business  in  this  state  shall  file  with  the 
state  librarian  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  January  in  each  year,  all  printed 
reports  of  their  condition  issued  by  them  during  the  twelve  months  preceding. 

Sect.  7.  This  act  shall  take  effect  upon  its  passage. 

Approved  February  13, 1895. 


'    ( 


